Legends of Existence
by Finalsmasher13
Summary: I abused and ignored my pokemon, and now I've been reborn into the body of one. Now, as I adjust to my new life, a greater evil emerges...
1. Fun at the Zoo: Part I

**Well, here it is: the beginning of my very first story. I've had all these ideas ready for months, and now I finally have them ready for reading. I've worked hard on this, so I hope you like it.**

**Keep in mind that I had to divide this chapter into two. It was way too long in Microsoft Word, and I thought that might turn some people off to reading it, so I made it into two chapters. Go ahead and read that once you're done with this.**

**So, without further ado, sit back and enjoy the first chapter of Legends of Existence!

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Chapter 1: Fun at the Zoo: Part I

"The zoo? Isn't that the trip you take in third grade?" I said.

My name is Reese. I was in tenth grade about that time, studying before I officially went on my Pokemon journey. The school year was almost over, and since I was in tenth grade, it was nearly time to graduate. In the Sevii Islands, the trainer schools only go up to tenth grade, so many trainers start off sooner than others.

I was walking home with my best friend, Tobias. We had been friends since before we became trainers, but eventually we would part ways when we began our respective journeys.

"Yeah, I agree with you there," said Tobias, "but that place has the battle simulators, so you can go crazy with those after you're done with the project."

The project he was referring to was the final project of the year. At the Pokemon Exhibit Park (most people called it the zoo, because really, the place is no different from one), each student had to pick at least three pokemon to study, take notes on the behavior of, and write a five-page report about when they returned home. I know it's the last assignment of the year, but couldn't the teacher have just cut us a little slack?

"I guess so. With the simulators, I can finally get some experience battling with some strong pokemon for once." I gestured to the pokeball I was holding.

"What's with your obsession for strong pokemon? For a long time, you've only wanted to be better, so much so that you've lost faith in your own starter! He'll grow to be stronger if you train him right. In fact, I'm pretty sure the Feraligatr he'll evolve into is one of the best main starters of all the regions!" I think you can figure out that I had a Totodile.

"Strong pokemon are the only ones that will allow you to beat others and win badges. I need them so I can win the Pokemon League Challenge." I looked at my pokeball again, then at Tobias. "You have a point though, he is one of the best starters. He can easily enough defeat your pathetic little Turtwig." I said this with an exageratedly snide tone.

"Should I consider that a challenge?" Tobias reached for the pokeball that contained his Turtwig.

"Save it for tomorrow, once we've both finished with the project. I'll destroy your weak little turtle then."

He sighed. "Whatever you wanna do. Just remember that we'll be prepared for you."

"Hmph. Well good for you. We don't need to be prepared for you, though. Totodile is strong enough to beat you three times in a row." We reached my home by this point.

"Keep holding on to that cocky attitude, tell me where it'll get you in life." I started walking up the driveway.

"Whatever, bye."

"See ya," Tobias said. As I walked away, I heard him mumble something too quiet for me to understand, but I didn't think much of it.

I walked up to the house and stepped in through the unlocked door. My grandparents always left it unlocked. If I didn't know any better, I would think they were begging to be robbed. Why was I living with my grandparents, and not my normal parents, you might ask? More on that later.

"Anybody home?" I shouted. As usual, my call was left unanswered. Both my grandparents worked late; grandfather at the general store down the street, and grandmother at the dry cleaners. Needless to say, they never made much money. I took a Pecha Berry from their fruit basket, took a small bite of it, and walked into the garage. I grabbed the box of tennis balls I used for training, which were clearly worn and beaten over years of practicing with them.

"Oh, I almost forgot." I ran back into the house and grabbed the Sharpedo-tooth necklace, the one I had received from my father. I always wore it, especially during training sessions. It somehow made me feel stronger, more powerful.

Walking into the wide expanse of a backyard we had, I took another small bite of the berry and released Totodile from his pokeball.

In a bright flash of light, Totodile appeared, shouting its name over and over again.

"Totodile! Toto to dile to totodile!" That sounds gets more annoying than you would think it could after hearing it for years on end.

"Get serious, we're going to start our training now," I told the little crocodile sternly. Its playful demeanor visibly turned into a somber one. "Wipe that look off your face, you need to become more powerful. And to do that, we need to train. We've been doing this for years now, you know the drill well enough." With that, he put on a determined face, though I could tell it was plastered on there. I took another bite of my fruit and grabbed a tennis ball from the box.

"Okay, we're doing our normal accuracy practice," I explained. "You know the how to do it. Hit each ball with a Water Gun attack while it's in the air. Ready?" Totodile gave a slight nod. "Good. Now, begin!"

I tossed one of the balls up high into the air and, as directed, Totodile shot a well-aimed Water Gun at the ball, blasting it across the yard. I tossed up another one, and it shot it again, easily enough. The next ball was thrown low to the ground, so it quickly launched another Water Gun at the perfect angle, which made the ball go high in the air and land close to the other tennis balls. He continued doing this for a few more tosses.

"Looks like you're finally starting to show some worth, Totodile." I said. It was a compliment, but for some reason, the Pokemon seemed to be upset. I don't really get it. I threw another ball as high as I could throw it. He shot another Water Gun, but missed this time. "Maybe I spoke too soon." I launched another ball into the air. "This time, don't miss."

Panting and sweating, the practice clearly exhausted the little alligator. Now, for the evaluation. There were about thirty tennis balls in the box I was using. Out of all of those, Totodile hit exactly twenty-three of them.

"Only slightly more than two thirds of them. You should've done better." I scolded the little Pokemon. It started to look even more disappointed of himself than before. I couldn't blame him; I was disappointed in him too. "How do you expect to beat fast pokemon, like Ninjask, when you can't even hit all the slowly moving targets?" He just hung his head low, ashamed. "Whatever, let's move on to the strength training."

* * *

"You've changed, Reese."

That was all Tobias said as he watched his old friend walk up to his home. With a sigh, he turned around and continued his walk to his own home. About a two minute's walk down the street was Tobias' home. However, he did not stop there; he continued down the street to the old playground, where he and Reese always used to play together.

Once he reached the playground, he took in the sights. The metal bars that used to be the monkey bars were broken: many of the rungs were missing, and as for the rest, only small chunks of metal remained. The slide had grafitti sprayed all over it, and in a few places one could read the clearly misspelled words: "Hale Satin." The balance beam, like the monkey bars, had a large missing chunk in the middle.

The swings were the only parts of the playground still perfectly intact. Tobias walked over to them and sat down on one, while unclipping his Turtwig's pokeball from his belt.

"Come out, Synth," Tobias said while releasing his Turtwig. The Tiny Leaf pokemon appeared with a smile, and jumped into Tobias' lap. "I haven't come here in a long time, years, maybe. I know it was at least before I got you." He smiled and pet Synth's head. The Tiny Leaf pokemon responded with a happy "Twig!" and continued to listen to Tobias talk. "Reese and I had a lot of fun here when we were little…" He said, as memories came like a flood into his head…

_Reese and Tobias swung on the swings they loved so much, having as much fun as they possibly could._

"_Bet I can swing higher than you!" Reese told Tobias._

"_Oh, should I consider that a challenge?" Tobias began pumping his legs back and forth and started to swing._

"_Definitely!" Reese shouted. He had already begun swinging as well, and soon was already higher off the ground than Tobias. "I'm winning!"_

"_Not for long!" countered an annoyed Tobias. He swung his legs harder than he had before, and quickly overtook Reese. He was so ecstatic about their competition that it took him a second to notice that the rusty chains of the swing broke off, sending him flying high through the air._

"_Uwaaaaaaahhh!" screamed Tobias in terror. With nothing to stop him, he plummeted to the ground and slammed right on his back._

"_Tobias!" Reese stopped himself as fast he could and ran over to his downed friend. "Tobias, are you okay?"_

"_Ugh… that hurt…" came the slow reply._

"_Oh, good, you're okay. That was a big fall you took. You're lucky you're not hurt too badly."_

"_Yeah, I guess you're right," Reese reached out his hand and helped Tobias stand up. "It wouldn't have happened if you didn't challenge me to a swinging contest."_

"_Oh, so this is my fault?"_

"_Of course it is! You're the one who started it."_

"_Well, did you have fun?"_

_His answer came slowly. "…Yeah, I guess I did."_

"_Good. Then if you're okay, there was no harm done."_

_They both chuckled a little, until they noticed a small bird flitting around them. "Hey, it's a Pidgey!" Reese exclaimed._

"_Gee, I couldn't figure that out."_

"_Quit it with the sarcasm." The Pidgey lowered near Reese's pants' pocket and began to peck at it. "Ow! Hey, what do you want, bird?"_

_The Pidgey stopped pecking Reese and landed on the ground by his feet. "Pid Pidgey, Gey Pidey!" it started saying frantically._

"_Maybe it wants that candy bar you saved from lunch today." Tobias proposed. "I think it's in that pocket." Reese reached into his pocket and conjured up his chocolate bar he bought at lunch from school earlier that day. Sure enough, the bird's eyes lit up in excitement._

"_Gey, Pidgey! Pidgey, Pid, Gey!"_

"_I think you're right," said Reese. He peeled off the wrapping of the chocolate and broke off a tiny piece for the bird. "I probably shouldn't be giving a pokemon chocolate…" The bird visibly saddened. "but I guess it's alright, this once." He opened his palm with the candy and lowered his hand to the ground. The Pidgey excitedly gobbled it down in one bite while Reese patted it on the head. "Did you like it, little guy?"_

_The Pigey gave a confirming "Gey!" and proceeded to fly off into the sky._

"_When we're Pokemon trainers," began Reese, "We'll get to see Pokemon like that every day."_

"_Yeah… I can't wait to start my own Pokemon adventure." Tobias responded._

"_Yep, me neither."_

Tobias sat on the same swing he fell off of all those years ago. "Yeah, that was a pretty big fall," he said to nobody in particular. "I'm glad they fixed it. They certainly could've fixed up the rest of the playground, though.

"But I just don't get it!" Tobias began to raise his voice. "Reese used to care about pokemon, he loved them! Now, he only sees them as tools to prove his own strength. God, what made him that way?" He looked down at Synth, who was giving him a quizzical look. "I need to stop talking to myself like that, don't I?"

"Twig," the Tiny Leaf pokemon said in agreement.

"Well, thanks," Tobias said sarcastically. He stood up. "I've ranted long enough." "Let's go home." He recalled Synth back into his pokeball and walked back in the direction he came.

* * *

Strength training consists of destroying a target number of wooden boards in a certain amount of time. Completed with the exercise, Totodile was extremely exhausted

"Let's see… in two minutes, you destroyed twenty-one boards," I told Totodile. "The target was twenty-five boards." I sighed. "Is all of this training going to go to waste? If you can't even hit the target number, how can you expect last long enough against stronger enemies?" The Big Jaw pokemon was too tired to respond. "Whatever, we're done for today." I began walking back toward the house. "Let's go." He finally stood up and dragged himself into the house along with me.

Once we were in, I readied his dinner: simple pokemon food with more water than food (Water types like Totodile need much more fluids than normal pokemon). On days when he did an exceptional job in training, he would get an extra treat: a small piece of chocolate from the bar I always kept in the fridge. This reward system usually worked well. If he didn't get a treat one day, then the next day he would try extra hard and get some. But this was not one of those days.

As for myself, all I ate was the rest of the Pecha Berry I had taken earlier, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, and my own piece of chocolate. I sat at the table, while Totodile ate in his own specified corner. Of course, when he lifted his head up and noticed the sweet candy I had, he instantly forgot about his exhaustion from training and ran up to me with that wide smile of his and his tail wagging faster than a speed boat's motor.

"Sorry, Totodile," I said, taking a large bite of my sandwich, "but you didn't do good enough today. Tomorrow, if you do better, you can have some candy." The little crocodile's face slowly reduced into an upset one. Depressed, he didn't even bother to finish his food or water, he just walked out of room and off to some other spot in the house. I don't know where, I didn't bother to look for him.

Anyway, in a few minutes' time, I finished my food and moved to the next room over. I sat down at the computer desk with a pencil and paper, aiming to get a head start on the project

"What pokemon should I choose" I wondered aloud. "Since I'm going to Johto after I graduate, I should probably choose some pokemon from there."

Let me explain something. Since the Sevii Islands had no established Pokemon League, any trainers from here had to choose another region to go to to begin their journey. I was one of the few who were going to Johto, though I don't understand why others were not going there too. It was one of the best regions temperature-wise (everyone complained about the climate in other regions) and it had some of the rarest and strongest pokemon in the world. But I digress.

"I think Skarmory will do nicely. I definitely need to study Tyranitar, it's the most powerful non-legendary pokemon from Johto. And for the last…" and that's when Totodile walked in.

The first thing I noticed about him was that he looked sad- much worse than I had previously seen him. At the same time, he seemed apologetic, like he wanted to beg forgiveness for his poor performance today.

"What do you want?" I asked scornfully. I didn't feel like talking to him- I was busy, and he didn't earn any attention today.

"Totodile, to toto dile, to…" he started to say. As I said earlier, that constant blathering of his species name gets irritating after hearing it for too long.

"Whatever you're trying to tell me, I can't understand you. Just leave me alone, I have schoolwork to do."

"Toto, to dile totodile dile, to to dile, to-"

"Ugh, I don't care! I just told you, I don't know what you're saying!"

Now the annoying little alligator started getting mad. "Totodile! Totodile, to dile to to dile, toto dile, Totodile!"

"God, that's it!" I shouted. First he wouldn't train properly, and now he won't shut up? Holy hell, no one told me that pokemon could get so annoying! I grabbed his pokeball from my waist and pressed the button to recall him, jaws blathering the entire time. "Now shut up and behave in there." With that, I tossed the ball into the wall, hard, and listened as it fell into a pile of laundry in the corner. I picked up my pencil and got back to work.

"Finally, now maybe I can start studying some good pokemon for once…"

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**Yeah, not much happened here, the next chapter is where we really start to get into the good stuff :) I know some things here may seem unclear, but they will be explained later in the story.**

**By the way, since I only consider this half of a chapter, I ask you to please save all reviews until after you've read the second one. Trust me, it's much better than this.**

**-Finalsmasher13**


	2. Fun at the Zoo: Part II

**So here's the second chapter. It's better than the first chapter, and we even have a battle. Yay!**

**Remember, it's the second part of the first chapter, so make sure you read that first. But either way, enjoy this chapter of Legends of Existence!**

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Chapter 2: Fun at the Zoo: Part II

Soon enough, the next day had come. I was refreshed now after waking up to the pleasant sound of Pidgeys and other bird pokemon chirping, and not the constant repetition of "Totodile! Totodile! Totodile!" from, who else, Totodile. Now, the entire class was waiting for the boat to take us to the zoo (We were on Five Island, the zoo is on Seven Island). While I was waiting, Tobias decided to come up to me.

"Hey." he greeted.

"Hey." I greeted back. What exciting conversations we shared.

"So," he continued, "what pokemon did you choose to study? As for me, I chose some of the Bug types. Specifically Butterfree, Mothim, and Ninjask."

"Bug types?" I sneered. "While I agree Ninjask is extremely fast, almost all Bug types are weak. Are you just observing how pokemon with little strength can manage to survive?"

"You certainly have a thick skull, don't you? Just answer the question."

"Well anyway, I'm going to be looking at some of Johto's powerhouse pokemon: Skarmory, Heracross, and, my personal favorite, Tyranitar."

"Hmm… Heracross, huh? I thought you just said that all Bug types are weak."

"I said 'almost all.' Heracross, Scizor, and Yanmega are the only exceptions."

"Whatever you say…" his voice trailed off.

After that short bit of banter, the boat finally arrived. Everyone boarded it, and after a short roll call, we were off. Nothing important happened on the ride there, so after an uneventful half-hour, we had arrived.

"Ah, finally," I said, stretching out my stiff arms. "Now, to just finish this project and-"

"Hey there, Ressey!" shouted an annoying, squeaky voice behind me.

I sighed. "Hey, Sam."

Samantha was one of my childhood friends, along with Tobias. In truth, I never became friends with her myself; Tobias did, and eventually he started bringing her to hang out with us. Over time, I guess we had formed a friendly relationship, but she was, more often than not, more annoying than Totodile's constant yammering.

"So, what pokemon are you lookin' at today?"

"Must you call me 'Reesey'?"

"Of course! What else would I call you?

"Possibly, I dunno, Reese?"

"Nah, it's more fun this way," she giggled, then continued with "So answer my question already."

"Skarmory, Heracross, and Tyranitar. Happy?"

"Well you don't have to sound so grumpy about it. Anyway, I'm going to be looking at some of the baby pokemon, though I'm not sure which ones to choose."

"Tch, foolish." Was my arrogant response. "What's so special about them? They can't battle at all, why would you want to study them?"

She dropped her nice attitude and became serious. "Y'know, did it ever occur to you that there may be more to pokemon than battling and getting stronger?"

"Keep telling yourself that, Sam, keep telling yourself that." She grumbled, and we finally made it to the entrance of the zoo. I shoved the ten dollar admissions fee into the man's face, the one who collected the money, and began to climb up the stairs to the gate.

The zoo sat on top of a large cliff overlooking the vast ocean. The cliff was at least a good fifty feet above the ground, and below it lay a collection of sharp, jagged rocks, hungry for foolish people who were stupid enough to fall off the edge. Of course, the entire perimeter was guarded by a short guardrail, but it was probably too small to stop anybody from falling.

"That's safe," I said sarcastically, to nobody in particular. Leaving Sam behind, I dashed over to the large billboard-like sign labeled "Directory."

"Now, if there will be no further interruptions, I'm off." I scanned the sign for Fighting type section and walked of into the direction of it.

* * *

_Who would've thought that Heracross and Skarmory could be so boring? _I thought to myself.

An hour after we had arrived, I was now headed toward the Rock-type section for studying Tyranitar. During said hour, I had visited Heracross (who was actually in the Bug type section. Surprisingly, I didn't run into Tobias at all there) and Skarmory. The three Heracross they had on display had done nothing the entire time but eat tree sap and polish their horns. Two of them almost got into a fight when one pushed the other off a tree while it was eating, but the third stopped them from escalating any further than that by cutting some tree sap for the second Heracross

The Skarmory exhibit had been even more of a letdown. Half of them were sleeping the entire time, and the two that were not sleeping only flew around the whole time. One of them flew right over me when it suddenly decided that it had to take a crap right above me. I jumped out of the way just in time, but I still wanted to throttle that thing's neck just for attempting.

But now I was headed toward the one exhibit that I knew would not disappoint the Rock/Ground type section. And, of course, my beloved Tyranitar. On the way, I passed all the little Geodudes and Arons and Digletts, knowing their contempt for not being as strong as the mighty pokemon I was to behold. Eventually, I passed by a large, barren field with a few large rocks jutting out of the ground to fill the space. In the corner was a large cliff at least ten feet off the ground. On top of that cliff was a sleeping Rhydon. Littered all over the ground of the enclosed area were bunches of Golems, Lairons, Nosepass, a pair of Nidoking and Nidoqueen, Cubone, and way too many other Pokemon to list.

And that's when I saw it.

The famed Tyranitar, in the close corner of the large enclosure. Motionlessly it lay on the ground, breathing heavily. Even though it was doing nothing, it still managed to appear majestic, towering over the smaller, weaker pokemon with the same Rock type it had.

_But why is it just lying there,_ I thought. _Tyranitar, by nature, is a violent, powerful species. It can destroy mountains, for Christ's sake! Why would it just lay there?_

While I was pondering this, I noticed a rather giant Golem inch close to the Tyranitar. Instead of pick a fight, though, it looked close to the ground where the Rock and Dark type was laying on top of, with a hungry look in its eye's. The Golem took a small step forward, but stopped dead in its tracks as the apparently pissed Tyranitar let out a low, yet ferocious "Tyyyyyyrrr…" Knowing better than to take a chance against one of the strongest non-legendary pokemon in existence, it stepped backward slowly and eventually walked away.

"That's strange," I wondered aloud. "Tyranitar usually want to challenge other pokemon to prove their strength. Yet that one just sat there." I noticed how it didn't seem to move from that spot at all, even after ten minutes of silent observation. During that time, other pokemon came close to the Armor pokemon and received the same reaction as the Golem did: a vicious growl that told them to get away from it without truly saying anything.

"I wonder if it could be… protecting something, maybe?"

"Aww, look," said the unmistakable voice of annoyance, "I think he actually has some brain cells in that inflated head of his."

"Hello, Sam," I breathed out, accompanied by an exasperated sigh. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

"The project, duh. Why else would I be here?"

"I thought you said you were researching the Baby pokemon, though."

"I am. I've got Cleffa and Igglybuff down, but when I heard there was a Pokemon Egg here, I thought it would be perfect for my report."

"An Egg… so that must be what it's trying to protect."

"Bingo."

"But why don't I see it? Shouldn't it have the egg close to it?"

"You know, we did an entire unit on this in Biology class. 'Unique Mating Patterns of Pokemon.' You don't remember any of it at all?"

"I had other things on my mind…" In truth, I was coming up with new training drills for Totodile while we did most of that unit. That's how I came up with the strength training exercise.

"Whatever. Anyway, Tyranitar bury their eggs underground. That one Tyranitar must be the mother, since it doesn't move from that spot and snarls at anybody who passes by." Just then, we noticed an Aggron walk up to the Tyranitar, clearly oblivious to any threat that the maternal rock behemoth might pose. Surprisingly, though, instead of threat the Aggron, the Tyranitar let it walk up to her; in fact, the Aggron laid down beside her, nuzzling his steel head against her's. Sam continued with: "You see that Aggron there? He's more than likely the father, since the mother clearly accepts him with her."

"Wow… you certainly know a lot about Pokemon mating."

"Well, I actually like to pay attention in class, unlike _some_ people."

"Ha ha," I laughed sarcastically. I stayed for a few moments more, taking notes about the strange Tyranitar/Aggron pair, and closed my notebook, saying, "I should probably get going now. The project's over, and I promised Tobias I'd battle with him today."

" Okay, then. Have fun, Reesey!"

That name still annoys me to no end.

* * *

I navigated my way over to the Bug type section. Even though I hadn't run into him the last time I was there, I was confident that he would show up some way or another. All of the pokemon he was studying were Bug type, so I knew he would be here somewhere.

I ended up finding him near a densely forested area (artificial forest, of course), observing some Metapod and Kakuna.

"Tobias, you ready to battle?" I asked aloud. He whirled around and jumped slightly, taken by surprise by my challenge.

"You seem to be in a hurry," he stated bluntly. "Why do you want to battle so bad?"

"Because I've been looking for you for about half an hour." I actually found him within a matter of minutes. I only said that because I honestly had no real reason for wanting to battle so badly. Maybe I just wanted to feel the rush of being superior to my best friend by means of crushing him in battle. "Now can we begin already?"

"Dang, calm down, Reese. I accept, but we can't battle here. Near the battle simulators, they have a small field for pokemon battling. Let's go there."

"Sounds good." Finally, to have some fun today.

We walked through the zoo together until we reached the battlefields. There were ten total arenas in the park. Surprisingly, most of them were empty. We picked an arena towards the back; I stood on the side closest to the main zoo, while Tobias took the far side.

"Alright, let's start this," I began. "Simple one-on-one battle; first pokemon down loses. That okay with you?"

"We only have one pokemon each," he replied. "Those are the only rules we can use. Of course they're okay with me" I grumbled something about his sarcasm, then grabbed Totodile's pokeball from my belt.

"Let's go, Totodile! Destroy him!" I shouted as I launched the Ball into the air.

"Synth, prepare to battle!" was Tobias's battle cry. In two flashes of white light, both pokemon appeared on the field, one of which looked eager and ready to fight.

Surprisingly, that pokemon was Synth, Tobias's Turtwig.

Totodile groggily stood up from a nap as he emerged from his pokeball. He seemed unwilling to do anything at all. That is, until he turned around. He saw my face, and instantly his exhausted expression contorted into an angered glare. He turned back around, with a new will to fight, though it probably wasn't because he was in a battle.

"Synth, start it off with Razor Leaf!" came the opening command. The leaves on Synth's head spun, sending out a barrage of smaller leaves to attack Totodile.

"Totodile, dodge it. Then use Bite!" Totodile sluggishly jumped out of the way, with a few deep-cutting gashes from leaves that cut him when he didn't jump fast enough. He then ran up to Turtwig and snapped his jaws tightly against his head.

"Shake him off. Use Withdraw, Synth!" Synth drew his head into his tiny shell, simultaneously pushing Totodile off of his head.

"Now respond with your own Bite!" Synth's head, as quickly as it had retracted, re-emerged, snapping it's large mouth wildly. His jaws clamped onto Totodile's arm, receiving a yelp of pain.

"Ignore the pain, Totodile, Use Trash." With a cold, silent glare towards me, The small crocodile wildly flung its limbs about, throwing the Turtwig off his arm. The attack didn't stop there though, Totodile rapidly punched and kicked the turtle while it was down, so fast it seemed like it was all in one motion.

"Hang in there, Synth! Try to get in a Razor Leaf if you can!" When brief intervals of time opened between Totodile's rapid blows, Synth shot off a few sharp leaves from his head. Totodile was oblivious to the pain during his Trash attack though, and the hits continued.

Eventually, Totodile visibly grew exhausted and stopped attacking Synth. He wobbled back over to my side of the field, now feeling the sting of the Razor Leaf attacks.

"Okay, now finish him off with Ice Fang!" Totodile's teeth magically glazed themselves over with a layer of frost and ice. Unfortunately, as Totodile began to move, he stumbled slightly and clamped his jaws around his own arm, the same one Synth had bitten. It screamed out loud as a new wave of icy pain overwhelmed him.

"Damnit, he's confused," it finally occurred to me, as I remembered the side effect of the Thrash attack. "Get your head together, you useless alligator!"

"Hey, don't talk to your pokemon like that!" shouted Tobias from his side of the field. "It's just a friendly match; he's doing the best he can!"

"Shut up, Tobias! Let me worry about how to handle my pokemon!" He sighed angrily and grumbled something I couldn't hear.

"He can't attack, Synth. Use the opportunity to heal yourself with Synthesis!" The Turtwig stood up slowly, then began to glow a soft yellow-green color. Absorbing the light energy from the sun, the various bruises from the brutal Trash attack began to disappear. Synth looked completely recharged from the move.

"Great, now he's winning," I grumbled. "Attack, already! Ice Fang!" Totodile finally managed to move forward at a fast enough speed to clamp down on Synth with icy jaws before he could react.

By comparison, Totodile looked a lot worse off than Synth. Totodile's skin was layered with bruises and deep gashes from many Razor Leaf attacks. On his arm especially was a deep cut from Turtwig's earlier Bite attack. Blood would be flowing from it, if the blood were not frozen from the self-inflicted Ice Fang attack from when he was confused.

Synth, on the other hand, seemed mostly unharmed. There were a few leftover bruises left from Thrash, unhealed by his Synthesis tactic. The only other scar he bore was a thin layer of ice on his shell from another Ice Fang.

"Quick, use Absorb!" flew the command from Tobias.

"Get back here before it can hit you!" I shouted, but it was too late. A green aura formed around both Totodile and Synth. From Totodile, small green orbs of energy flew and were absorbed into Synth's body. While Totodile was clearly and utterly writhing in pain on the ground, Synth healed himself even more, melting the ice on his shell and making a few more bruises disappear.

"Rrrrrrggghh…" I growled. I couldn't let him win, I had to win. I had to be stronger, more powerful. "Water Gun, NOW!" Totodile crawled up on all four limbs and managed to open his mouth wide, letting loose a weak jet of water from it. But, blinded by his pain, the stream went wide, completely missing the target.

"Gah! We just practiced this yesterday, Totodile!" I was screaming now, blind with fury. "Is everything we trained for going to waste? You're useless!"

"Shut up, Reese! He's doing his best! You screaming at him won't help the situation at all!" Tobias was as pissed at me as I was at Totodile.

"Leave me alone! I'm fine! Totodile is the one that can't do anything!"

Tobias sighed, trying desperately to calm both himself and I down. "Fine. Synth, finish this fight with a Tackle."

The Turtwig ran full speed at Totodile and slammed into his side with all of his weight. Totodile was knocked forcefully onto his belly and, too exhausted to stand up, lay like a rag doll on the ground, panting so loud Tobias could hear his exhaustion from his side of the field.

I was stunned speechless. After all of our training, after all of our endeavors, Totodile still lost in an epic display of disgust. I heard Tobias say "Good job, Synth. You can rest, now," as he recalled him back into his pokeball and saw him walk over to me, hands clenching and unclenching into fists every few seconds.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" said Tobias, as he approached my position. "This was a friendly match, and all I heard you do was yell at Totodile and call him useless. What kind of trainer are you?"

"A good one," I began. "It's just the pokemon I have that's bad." I took the pokeball from my waist and recalled Totodile back into it, without another word.

"You…I… I-I can't believe you! You can't even be nice to your own pokemon!" He sighed, and I could almost see his anger flood out of his body. He turned around, allowing me to see his back. "Tell me something, Reese. You used to love pokemon. You took care of them, and fed them. You used to be my friend. Now, all you care about is power and strength. Pokemon aren't friends to you anymore, they're tools. What happened to the first Reese? What happened to my best friend?" The entire time he had an icy calm to his voice, a ferocious serenity, if you will.

"God, ever since that accident at the beach…"

At the mention of that phrase, I snapped. Not willing to let him utter another word, I grabbed his shoulder, spun him around, and dragged his face close to mine by his shirt collar.

"Don't you _dare_ bring that up, Tobias," I said. It was more like a vicious whisper into his consciousness. "You know what happened there, you know why I don't want to talk about it. So don't think you can relate this battle to that." I pushed him as far away from me as I could, turned around and walked away.

* * *

The accident Tobias was referring to was… an event in my life. I don't want to bring up specifics, but it left both of my parents dead. Afterwards, my older sister was so depressed that she insisted on leaving the Sevii Islands. She left with her starter, a Chingling, and I haven't heard anything of her since. I was too young to leave, so my grandparents adopted me and I've lived with them ever since.

Fuming with rage, I stalked through the park. Other people could probably tell I was angry, since every person I passed obviously tried to keep their distance. At one point I passed Samantha, her hands full with papers from her project.

"Hey, Reese," she started to say. She then noticed my angered expression and said, "Oh, are you okay?"

"Don't talk to me right now." I stated bluntly, and continued walking.

"You shouldn't avoid your problems. Come on, talk to me." She was clearly just trying to be polite, but in my anger, I couldn't recognize it.

"Shut up!" I yelled, and ran off. I wasn't mad at her, I was at everything. I had lost the battle, and my best friend reminded me of the slaughter of my family. I couldn't take it, I needed to get away. I ran out from the entrance of the zoo and rested at the guardrail on the side of the cliff, panting heavily. I turned around, expecting to see Jessica behind me, but to my surprise, she hadn't followed me.

I brought down my breathing rate and just stood there gazing over the edge. I could see Six Island from where I was.

"Whose bright idea was it to build a zoo on top of a cliff, anyway?" I wondered aloud. It was a feeble attempt to get my own mind off the subject I couldn't stop thinking of, my parents' deaths. It didn't work. I took my Sharpedo-tooth necklace off my neck and held it in front of my face. "This is all I have left to remember you by." I said. I sighed and set it down on the ground. My hand moved to Totodile's pokeball on my belt.

"After everything we practiced for, you still couldn't win," I began. "Tch, what was he talking about, anyway?"

His words echoed in my head:

_"You used to love pokemon. You took care of them… Now, all you care about is power and strength. Pokemon aren't friends to you anymore, they're tools."_

I couldn't stop thinking about that, either. There was way too much on my mind right now, I just wanted to forget today even happened.

"Maybe… he has a point," I said. "But it's just training. How is that bad?" I set the pokeball on the ground and sat down, gazing over the ocean.

_"What happened to that Reese? What happened to my best friend?"_

What does he mean by that? I'm still his friend, aren't I?

_"God, ever since that accident at the beach…"_

I winced at the thought of it. They didn't deserve what happened to them, and apparently Tobias didn't want me to forget. But the way he said that, does he mean that there's some connection between my training methods and the accident?

I was about to get up, but when I reached my hand down to grab Totodile's Pokeball, I noticed that it wasn't there.

"Gah, where did it go?" I pointed my eyes forward to see the pokeball rolling down a slight slope toward the edge of the cliff. I had been too busy contemplating Tobias's words that I didn't notice.

"Shit, Totodile!" I screamed. I jumped up and ran toward the edge, where the Ball was moving precariously close to. But it was too late. At the moment I reached for it, it rolled underneath the guardrail and all the way off the edge. "NO!" I screamed again. Faster than I ever thought it was possible for me to move, I jumped over the guardrail with one hand grasped as tightly onto it as I could will it to. I shot my free arm down and grabbed the pokeball before it fell down any farther. I looked down and realized that I was suspended over the edge of the cliff, above the menacing, jagged rocks below.

"Urgh, this isn't good," I said, dangling over the edge of the cliff. "Alright, first you, Totodile." I threw the ball back onto safe land. The ball landed on its switch, causing Totodile to be released. He appeared to me, angry yet surprised at the situation. He was still covered with scratches and bruises on his skin.

"Oh thank God! Totodile, help me up!" I ordered. He grunted and grabbed the hand I used for throwing the ball up. He pulled, but was simply too weak to do anything. "Come on, I'm in a situation, damnit! Help me, already!" And what he did next took me completely by surprise.

He snidely grunted at me, then dropped my hand, allowing me to dangle there helplessly. "What are you doing, Totodile? Don't leave me here!" Without saying another word, he backed off, leaving my view. As he did, I could swear I saw a wicked smile in his jaws…

I grabbed the guardrail with my other hand, but they were both sweaty and slipping from the rail quickly. I scrambled to hoist myself up, but it was futile. In a desperate attempt to survive, I let go of the guardrail with one hand and grabbed the edge of the cliff, clawing and struggling to save myself.

Unfortunately, my second hand slipped off of the rail, causing me to involuntarily jerk my other hand back. With nothing to save myself, I fell, fell down to the cruel rocks below, to die.

They say when you are about to die, your entire life flashes before your eyes. Well, mine didn't. If someone were to die more slowly, say, from some sort of disease while they were lying on their deathbed, they may have enough time to see their life. I was killed too quickly for anything to flash before my eyes, save for the sharp boulders below. I helplessly fell below, screaming in utter terror.

I didn't land; I was impaled through the chest by a spiky boulder before I hit the ground. My death was too quick to feel pain; therefore, I painlessly blacked out as the life drained out my body.

And now, all that is left of me is my corpse.

* * *

**_Now _is when I want you guys to review. Did you like the chapters? Or not? Either way, please review the story, I really want to know what you guys thought of it and what I could improve on.**

**On another note, I'd like to send my personal thanks to fellow author XoXfirebirdXoX. You helped me get the story started and gave me some much-needed inspiration to write. Thanks so much :)**

**If you hadn't read her story, you should. It's called Living In The Moment, and it's a great story. I'm sure she'd appreciate more reviews too.**

**Like I said, make sure you reviw if you have something to say about the story.**

**-Finalsmasher13**


	3. Nightmares

**So, here's the next chapter. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, even if there aren't many, they're still nice to see.**

**On a side note, I don't really have any set updating schedule. For now, I'll try for at least once a week, maybe more if I can fit it in. But don't get you're hopes up.**

**Well anyway, have a good time reading the next chapter of Legends of Existence!  
**

* * *

Chapter 3: Nightmares

I awoke at some point after my death, lying on my stomach, though I don't know how long after.

"Guh… what…. what happened…" I breathed out. I was having a lot of trouble breathing, and I couldn't find the strength to stand up. In fact, why was I still able to breathe, anyway? I just died, didn't I?

I opened my eyes completely and took a better look around me. More specifically, what I was lying on. It felt soft, and I could feel a cool, greenish-blue liquid rush over my hands every few seconds.

"Is this… the ocean?" I asked myself. "How am I… lying on top of water?"

Everything was starting to seem surreal, like I had been warped into some other dimension. "Heh… this must be… some weird dream." I said to myself. After a few tries, I pushed myself up against my liquid floor and managed to stand, the process leaving me gasping for breath. I looked up, and what I saw swept me right off of my feet again.

"Oh my God! That's my body!" I screamed. The few words with no breath in between left me wheezing for air with an intense pain in my chest like I had never felt before. There, skewered through the chest by a spike-like boulder, was my corpse, lying motionlessly with wide open eyes, staring with a terrified look at the sky, though not seeing anything.

"How… is this happening? If… I'm over there… then how… am I here?"

"Take a wild guess, Reese."

Before I could even utter out "Who's there?" or "Who said that?", a giant, black tentacle blasted out of the ocean in front of me, splattering water all over me. It shot out and wrapped itself around my right arm, causing it to disappear under the black entanglement.

"What's happening?" I shouted again, the surprise of the situation distracting me from the intense pain in my chest. Leaving no time to allow for another gasp of air, the tentacle yanked me under the water that I had been somehow standing on a moment ago. Before I was dragged below, I saw a brief glimpse of a red, glowing spike at the end of the tentacle…

Underneath the surface was nothing; literally. No water, no fish pokemon, no nothing, just a black abyss. I still held what was left of my breath, for fear of letting it escape would kill me again. A few moments later, the tentacle released my arm, causing me to land on solid nothing. Meaning, I felt a floor below me, but there was none.

"Relax, you can breathe here," said the same mysterious voice. Somehow, I trusted it, and reluctantly, I let out the rest of the air in my body, allowing for a brief moment of relief, before I had to gasp and cough and wheeze all at the same time to get it back. "Wow, you certainly have gotten yourself into a situation now, haven't you?" it continued.

After a minute or so I regained my self-control. "What do you… mean?" I asked.

"Well, I thought your death would be a pretty obvious situation. But you humans can be pretty stupid sometimes, so I guess it's forgiven."

"I knew… about that... but where… am I?"

"I'm not too sure of that one myself. I guess you could call it Purgatory, but maybe that wouldn't be fitting."

"Okay then… now why don't… you show yourself… already?" As the conversation continued, I noticed that it was getting harder and harder to breathe.

"Okay, then. Why don't _you_ turn around?"

I turned around, expecting to jump or scream from surprise of the figure I would see. But, strangely, there was nobody there.

"I don't know what kind of game you're trying to play," I began, the few seconds without a deep breath causing me to falter for a moment. "But if you think you can-"

My heart stopped for a moment as I turned back around…

And saw the colossal myth, the Renegade pokemon Giratina, in the Origin Forme, floating directly in front of me.

"Gyaaaaaah!" I screamed. I must have jumped up at least a few feet, since I couldn't feel the floor anymore for a few seconds. As soon as I landed, of course, I couldn't breathe again. It took at least two minutes to regain my posture.

"Heh, heh… haven't done that trick in a while." said the demon pokemon.

"Do you… have to be… such a jerk?"

"Quite possibly." He giggled/

I sighed, which was a painful task in itself. "What do… you want with me?" I asked. "And... why can… I un-… derstand you?"

"What, are you surprised? You were impaled through the chest and are hanging on desperately to a few last moments of consciousness. Do you think it's at all strange that you can understand me?"

"Entirely," I joked, though it was definitely not a time for joking. "And… why is… it so… hard to breathe?"

Giratina sighed as well, and I was envious that I couldn't even do that without pain. "If you were just listening, I said you were impaled through the chest. Your lungs were hit, as well as you're heart."

"Oh… but… if I'm dead… then how-"

"Quit asking questions already," the shadowy pokemon said, with no attempt to disguise his annoyance toward me. "You're dead, I'm here, now shut up. Happy?"

"I would… be happy… if I were alive."

He/she/it grunted. "That's actually what I wanted to talk about. You see, your life was incomplete when you perished. So, I'm here to offer you a deal. I can allow you to come back to life, if you would like."

I gasped, and then coughed, in surprise. "R-really? Why? How?"

"Because you need to learn a lesson, you asshole." Now is when the pokemon became hostile.

"Well then… wait… what?"

"You heard me correctly," the thing began. Before, if I could identify any type of tone in its voice, I would have to say something along the lines of sarcastic. Now, it was clearly spiteful. It was probably waiting to tell me I could come back, just so it could show me how much it hated me. "You treated your Totodile like a heap of trash, and pokemon entirely like tools for your own use. I despise filthy humans like you, you bastard."

"What do… you mean...? I didn't… do any… thing wrong"

"You can't possibly be that naïve. If I may quote your words: 'Strong pokemon are the only ones that will allow you to beat others and win badges.' Or maybe something like: 'Is everything we trained for going to waste? You're useless!' Does that clear anything up?" As he quoted my words, his voice altered and sounded exactly like mine, which I found rather creepy.

"So what? …All of that… is true…"

The Ghost Dragon stared at me, speechless. For some reason, he couldn't comprehend my logic. I would think legendary pokemon are smart. What right does it have calling me stupid?

Suddenly, its eyes turned gravely serious, mixed with vengeance. It raised a tendril from its back, the red spike now glowing with a sinister black aura. Before I could even raise an arm to defend myself, it swiped at me, the spike jamming into my shoulder and sending me flying through the room of nothingness.

"Urgh… gyah!" I could only let out weak peeps of noise, the pain was so great. That mixed with my newfound breathing problem, and I couldn't even find the strength to move.

"Is that strong enough for you, you selfish bastard?" came the haunted, furious voice of Giratina. I would have screamed in surprise and horror, but I had no voice left to say anything. "Now let me explain something to you. You, in no plausible way, deserve this chance. If I had known how horrible you were, I would have to you and killed you myself! Tell me something, Reese; why do you I'm the one here instead of Mew or Arceus?"

I still had no breath to respond, my only sounds were heavy breathing. "I represent the dark side of existence. Basically an embodiment of the darkness in all earthly creatures. You belong on my side, Reese. You treat everything around that like it is your own property, and for that, you'll pay.

"You need to be taught a lesson. And for that reason only, am I bringing you back, weather you want it or not!" Of course, I don't see how that would teach me a lesson, I want to come back. As soon as I came back to my senses, I repeated my thoughts to Giratina.

"You really don't think so?" he said, questioningly. "Heh, fine then. You'll see."

It pointed one of the tendrils on its back to the right, the spike at the end glowing intensely. As if by magic, a transparent, white sphere started to form next to him. It built up to about half of his total height.

"What's… this… for?" I asked.

"Get in," it stated coldly. "That is what will bring you back to life."

I staggered over to it, wheezing every few steps. I felt the sphere, but there were no holes or ways to enter. It seemed like it was made of glass.

"How am… I supposed to… get in it?" Faster than I could blink an eye, I felt one of Giratina's tendrils wrap itself around my waist.

"You need help, do you?" It asked ferociously. It pulled me off of the invisible floor and tossed me with all its might at the sphere. I closed my eyes from fear and crashed against the wall, sliding downward slowly, groaning.

When I opened my eyes, I gasped in surprise for probably the tenth time in the past ten minutes. Somehow, the monster had thrown me through the wall on one side and I slammed into the wall on the other side, trapping me in the thing.

"Have a nice life, Reese." It laughed maniacally. It didn't take long for me to notice the sphere was slowly shrinking, with me inside.

"What… are you doing!" I shouted, banging my fists against the wall, though it didn't crack. "What does… this have to do… with coming back… to life?"

"Oh, did you seriously think you would come back to life as yourself?" it joked. "No, that Reese is dead, long gone. You're going to have to be reborn, into a new body."

"WHAT!" I ignored the unfathomable hurting in my chest, it could wait. I had to tell this thing a piece of my mind. "Are you insane? Isn't that something you should have told me?"

"Why yes, yes it is. It must have… slipped my mind." Said the monster, giggling vicously at me. "Oh, and maybe you should know one other thing…"

"What now?" The ball around me was growing ever smaller as we talked.

"You won't be a human when you are reborn. You will be," he snickered, "a pokemon."

It took a second for me to process that. "How could you not tell me this? I would've said 'no' if I knew!"

"I told you it would happen if you wanted it to or not. Knowing your true fate would not have made a difference at all."

"But why-" I suddenly stopped. I couldn't talk anymore, I couldn't even breathe. I tried to gasp, or wheeze, or cough, but nothing worked. I had no air supply left at all. Helplessly, I watched as the sphere around me began to close in on me, becoming so small that it forced me to curl into a tight ball to prevent form being crushed.

"Now, for the final time, goodbye, Reese." I blacked out again as the sphere around me stopped shrinking and the last of my consciousness left my body.

* * *

I awoke some time later (again) in a daze. The first thing I noticed was that I could breathe properly again. Strangely, though, it felt like I was still underwater, except not water. It was some thick substance, like molasses. It was dark, I still couldn't see anything. I tried to stretch, but as soon as I moved my arms, they hit a curved wall.

_I must still be in that damn sphere-thing Giratina made, _I concluded. I had to get out of here; I couldn't stay in the thing forever. But I had tried before, it was impossible. I tried to push against the wall again, but this time it seemed to feel softer, less rigid.

_Maybe it's started to weaken, _I thought._ Maybe plain force will work. _I pushed against the wall again, but it was hard to get any footing to stop myself from moving. I kept hitting it, hoping for just a crack or break or anything. At one point I shoved my entire body against it…

And the spherical prison rolled onto its side, slamming me into the opposite wall.

_Ugh, why is this so hard!_ I wondered. Frustrated, I punched the wall with my hand. Nothing happened, but I was determined to get out of this prison. I kept punching, tiring myself out in a matter of seconds, but eventually I felt the wall crack. _Yes!_ I thought to myself. My arms were somehow already too exhausted to lift themselves, so I banged my head against the break in the wall, and rejoiced when it completely shattered. I quickly crawled out of the ball, but instantly regretted it.

With the thick liquid gone, I could no longer feel anything in my body. All of my muscles felt like jelly, and I couldn't will them to move. I still only saw darkness around me, but something felt strange about it. It was a large, circular room, like a cave, but without an entrance or exit. The floor I lay on felt grainy and dirty, like a tough, compacted layer of sand.

_I think this is dirt._ I concluded._ But what am I supposed to do? There's no way out of here!_

_Try eating your way through it, _suggested a strange voice in my head. It sounded like my own, but felt like another's.

What? Why would I want to eat through it? It's dirt, for Christ's sake! What would that accomplish?

_Think about it,_ said the voice. _You're a pokemon now, right?. You're extremely hungry and surrounded by a cell made of soil. What else do you suppose you should try?_

I don't know, but I'm not going to resort to eating dirt as nourishment. Why would I even think about that anyway?

It's called instinct. Get used to it. If you don't want to obey it, you can let yourself starve and slowly rot in this underground cell. That would be better, wouldn't it?

I grunted at the voice. After thinking some more about it, I realized that it maybe made some sense. I had to get out of here somehow, and as a pokemon, supposedly, there would be some strange methods to doing it.

With my weak muscles I managed to drag myself over to the wall of the strange room. Wearily raising my hand, I scooped some of the soil of the surprisingly soft wall and brought it close to my mouth.

_Ugh, here goes nothing,_ I thought, and shoved it reluctantly into my mouth.

Somehow, the soil actually tasted… good. It was grainy, like I expected, but soft and moist, with a flavor that seemed close to a raisin. Despite that, it was still a weird to try eating it; it quickly softened in my mouth, like cotton candy.

_Am I seriously eating dirt?_ I asked myself. _And liking it, too? God, I must be having one strange dream._

So I continued to scrape the soil off of the walls, popping some into my mouth every few seconds. Eventually, I started directly nibbling it with my mouth, since digging it with my arms went too slowly. It was like an addiction, I couldn't stop eating it. Not because of the taste, but because I was way too hungry not to, plus it was, as far as I could tell, the only way out of the hole. I think at some point I started eating soil from the ceiling, since I was pushing myself upwards against the ground.

_There's so much here. I can't possibly eat all of it,_ I said to myself. I tried to bite some more off of the roof, but it refused to go down, there was more room left in my stomach for it. With no other solution, I banged my head against the ceiling, hoping to break through.

I noticed some of the dirt fall from the top, but no real give. I had to keep going though, I couldn't get out otherwise.

"My…by!" I heard something say. Strange, all I actually heard was some sort of "Tyr" noise, yet I understood what it meant. "He… try… out!"

"Now… let… his own."

"But... can't… out!" Suddenly, I heard and felt something strange. It was furiously scratching away the dirt and soil above me.

"What happened… letting… on his own?" With less of a barrier, I could hear the voices more clearly. This time, I heard some sort of "Agg" sound.

"I don't care… my child!"

The scratching became more frantic. Soon enough, before I could react, a hole appeared above me, shining way too bright light into my eyes. All I could feel was the burning of my retinas.

"Oh, my baby!" shouted something above me. I couldn't open my eyes, there was too much light. I felt a short sense of weightlessness as I was lifted out of the ground.

"Our baby, honey." Cooed another voice. It sounded so sappy, but… were they talking about me?

Now, all I heard were simultaneous "Aaaawwwwwwwwws" all around me, no way to escape them.

"What's going on?" I asked nobody. I froze as I uttered the words, for all I could hear come out of my mouth was a pained "Larv" sound. It isn't possible. Am I really… a pokemon?

Finally, my eyes calmed down. Gradually, I opened them, the light making it hard to see clearly. Able to see, I noticed a giant crowd of people behind a guardrail, all of them staring back at me repeating "Awww…" more times than I could imagine. The next thing I saw were two, wide green arms cradling me like a baby.

"What are all of these people doing here?" I asked aloud. "What's happening? Where am I?"

"Sshh, child. You're safe now." The green arms hugged me tighter, yet still tenderly. I turned my head to look upward and froze again at the figures above me.

"Eeyaaahh!" I screamed, squirming and involuntarily jerking my limbs around. Unexpecting of the fit, the rock monster above dropped me onto a hard, dry ground.

Before, the Tyranitar was still a giant; she was maybe two feet taller then me. Now, I had to tilt my head up as far as it could go just to see her face. The Aggron next to her was even worse. I couldn't even see his face by looking up. I turned around to look at the crowd of people, only to see that they were bigger too.

"How come everything is so gigantic? What's happening?" I could do nothing but shout the same questions over and over again.

"Please, child, calm down." This time the words came from the Aggron.

"No! I have to know where I am!" I tried to run away, but I took one step and tumbled over onto the dusty ground. All the people laughed and admired me from their position. I tried to crawl, but my legs were still too weak. So, with what little strength I had left, I dragged my body along the ground, not sure where I was heading, but somewhere away from here.

"What's the matter?" asked the Tyranitar. "You're headed towards the stream, you know. Are you thirsty?" Before I could respond, I was scooped off the ground and carried towards the small stream.

I started to remember now. The Tyranitar and Aggron pair that Sam had talked about, the dry, barren ground, the out-of-place river for the pokemon to drink from; I was at the zoo, the Rock/Ground type section.

"Here you are, child. Drink from here." The Tyranitar placed me lightly onto the ground. With nothing else to do, I dragged myself to the water and froze yet again at my reflection.

My reflection wasn't staring at me, it was something else's, not mine. A dark green body, its head about as big as the rest of its body. On the head, a pointed spike stuck out. Not exactly a horn, but just a small spike. Two tiny, red eyes gazed at me, a puzzling look in them. Below the head, short, stumpy arms and legs stuck out from the chest. On the chest was a strange, red, diamond-shaped pattern. Staring back at me was a newborn Larvitar.

"This… can't be real," I told myself. "It has to be a dream, some weird, bad dream. I-It's not possible, I can't actually be a pokemon."

"What are you talking about, sweetie?" wondered the Tyranitar. "Why wouldn't you be a pokemon?"

"No… I have to wake up. This must be a dream, there's no way it's real." I was in deep denial. This couldn't have happened, it's impossible. I pinched myself, but the pain didn't wake me up. I slapped myself in the face, and the reflection mimicked the action, but I still didn't wake up.

"No… no… it can't be…" I told myself. I looked down at the water, not the reflection but the water itself.

_Rock types are weak to water... _I thought to myself. With no other choice, I threw myself into the water with a big splash. I heard everybody near me gasp in shock as I plunged into the water.

As soon as I jumped in, I regretted it. With both the Rock and Ground types of Larvitar weak to water, I felt an immense pain that I had never felt before. Every twitch of my body sent a new wave of torture coursing through my body. Too heavy to float, I sunk below, with no way to escape.

I couldn't take any more of this. Too much pain, no way to escape it. I passed out again as it became too great. Before I did, though, I saw, a fuzzy, black shape jump in after me, arms open to grab me…

* * *

_I wonder what was wrong with Reese,_ thought Samantha. _Something_ _is bothering him, I can tell._

Currently, Samantha was still finishing her project. Still in the Normal-type section, she was now studying Happiny, supposedly one of the kindest pokemon in the world, along with its evolutionary family. Leaning over the guardrail, she dropped her pencil, causing it to roll far into the enclosure.

"Ngh…" she grunted, reaching for it, but it was no use. "Great, I don't have anything to write with now."

One of the Happiny in there noticed the utensil moving toward it. The pokemon stopped it with its foot and picked it up, observing the strange new object. It noticed the girl reaching into over the rail, her arm in the direction of the pencil. Deducing it was her's, the Happiny skipped over to the girl and held the pencil up for her to take.

"Aw, thanks little guy." Sam said. She pat the small pokemon on the head, receiving a joyous "Happiny!" from the recipient. It walked back towards its former position and sat down, satisfied. She smiled and began to write something on her notepad, but suddenly stopped.

"Oh, I forgot!" she said to herself. "That Egg was supposed to hatch soon!" With that, she shoved her papers into her backpack and ran off, nearly letting a few papers slip from her grasp.

The Normal type section of the zoo was closest to the entrance. As soon as one walks into the park, it's the first thing they will see. So it was no surprise when Samantha noticed a small blue figure near the entrance of the zoo, more specifically, at the edge of the cliff.

_I wonder what that is,_ she thought to herself. The Egg could wait a moment, she wanted to see what that figure was. It seemed familiar to her.

On closer inspection as she walked nearer, there were red spikes lining the back of the figure. Instead of a mouth, it had a wide pair of jaws, with sharp teeth lining the inside of them. Strangely, though, its body was covered with bruises and scratches.

_A Totodile,_ she concluded._ But what is one doing here?_

"_I should probably get going now… I promised Tobias I'd battle with him today."_ She recalled the words Reese had said earlier.

_Oh, that's probably Reese's Totodile. It must have already had that battle, judging by the cuts all over it. But then, where's Reese?_

She continued over to Reese's Totodile. It seemed extremely exhausted, and next to it was a pokeball and Reese's Sharpedo-tooth necklace.

"Hey, Totodile," said Samantha. "What'cha doing out here by yourself?" She reached down to pet him, but he snapped his jaws at her hand, growling, forcing her to take her hand back. "Hey, what's the matter with you? You remember me, don't you? I'm Sam."

The Totodile let up slightly, but was clearly still tense. "Here, maybe this will make you feel better." She set her backpack on the ground and unzipped the front pocket, searching for something.

"Ah, here we are!" she said as she took out a Super Potion from the pocket. "I always keep this with me, in case something happens to my Chimchar, but it seems like you need it more now." She slowly sprayed the medicine all over Totodile. It stung, and caused the Big Jaw pokemon to jump slightly, but soon it was washed over with relief.

"Thanks." Said the small crocodile. Though all Sam heard was its name, she knew well enough what he meant and responded with "You're welcome."

She picked up the necklace and held it to her face, inspecting it. "Reese usually never takes this off," she said, pocketing the necklace. "Now, what happened to your trainer?"

A queer look appeared on the pokemon's face. Sam couldn't exactly tell if it was giddiness or sorrow. "Over there." said Totodile, pointing a finger towards the edge of the cliff.

"The ocean? What, did he decide to take a little swim?" She giggled to herself, and leaned on the railing at the edge. The scanned the ocean, looking for some sign of Reese. "I don't see any-"

She froze in mid-sentence, as she looked down and saw what would horrify her for years to come.

She had found Reese, alright; dead, stabbed through the chest by a pointed boulder. He stared back at her, eyes wider than they could have ever been before, though they did not see her.

"Oh my God…" Sam whispered, tears quickly welling up in her eyes. "No… Reese…"

She turned around and scooped Totodile's pokeball up off of the ground and sucked him into it, placing the ball in her backpack.

_I have to find Tobias,_ thought Samantha. Leaving her things there, she ran off, to find her best friend. Tears blurred her vision as she ran, but it didn't stop her. She kept up her pace, weeping uncontrollably, not knowing where to look.

"Tobias!" She screamed, not caring that everybody near her glanced at her with quizzical looks. "Where are you?"

Luckily, Tobias was nearby, sitting at a bench next to the Directory sign. He stood up and dashed to the source of the screaming, Samantha.

"Sam? Are you okay?" he asked. Before he could say anything else, she launched herself at him, burying her face into his shirt. Tobias was taken aback, but didn't react coldly. "There, there," he said, speaking as if he was her father. "Tell me what happened."

"Reese…" she choked out, before bawling her eyes out in front of him.

Though still angry at Reese from the battle, he could tell by her emotions that there was something wrong with him. "Take me to him." Tobias said. Samantha walked slowly, staggering every few steps. Slowly, they made it to the same cliff where Samantha had been before.

"Okay, now what's the matter?" wondered Tobias. Sam fished out Reese's necklace from her pocket and placed it into his palm. Gazing at it for a moment, he said, "His necklace? Why isn't he wearing it? In fact, where is Reese?"

Samantha pointed towards the ocean, tears beginning to stream down her face once more. Finally starting to realize the implications, Tobias's face changed to become sorrowful. "No… it can't be…" he said. Samantha gave a small nod, before she started crying again. Tobias ran over to the rail and gazed downward, only to behold Reese's motionless body.

"No… how… how could this happen…" He said. Samantha walked up to Tobias and hugged him, crying into his shirt again. He hugged her back, as a lone tear rolled down his cheek. The two embraced each other for longer than they could ever think they would, the only witness Reese's dead corpse.

* * *

**Well, I don't think I could have been any more predictable as to what pokemon Reese would become if I put it up as a big neon when you see what I have in store for him... heh heh...**

**Anyway, so this was one of my longer chapters. I don't have a definite set length for these, but I would say about 5000 words is the maximum for me. This chapter goes a little bit over that, though.**

**In case you didn't catch it, we realized that Samantha has a pokemon of her own, a Chimchar, though we haven't heard from it yet. A reborn human as his friend's starter? Not on my watch :)**

**So... yeah... make sure you review. I like having reviews.**

**-Finalsmasher13**


	4. The Ropes of a New Life

**Wow, just last chapter I said I would try to update once a week, yet this chapter is here two weeks later. To explain, my grandparents came up the week before for Thanksgiving. Since I only see them a few times every year, I want to spend as much time with them as I can. Plus, I could barely even use the computer anyway while they were there, since they constantly use it.**

**But nevertheless, Chapter 4 is here! So stop reading about my life and start reading what you actually came here to read!**

* * *

Chapter 4: The Ropes of a New Life

"Be quiet! We have to do this quick." said a man, standing over the body of a sleeping Larvitar.

"Maybe we should wait for him to wake up, first," replied another man, seeming unsure of what even to do.

"He's not gonna let us stick the needle in him if he's awake. We have to do it now."

"But he's squirming around a lot… I really think we should wait."

"We've already been here for about ten minutes," the man quietly shouted, gesturing to the lock hanging on the wall, "we can't any longer! Let's just take a blood sample from him and get out of here. We don't wanna wake up the mother or father, do we?"

"… I guess not. Fine, just get it over with."

"Good. Now, let's hope it doesn't hurt him." The man positioned a syringe above the tiny pokemon's arm…

* * *

_The beaches on Six Island have always been revered as one of the most famous ones on the planet. Especially the one near Outcast Island, the small sparse of land to the north of the main island. There, there are no bothers, only the sea around you and whoever you decide to bring with you._

_Here, a small family went frequently, twice a week, at least. The solitude of the place seemed to melt away all stress and worries of the family who came. Each time they bonded ever closer, tightening the knot that would keep the family together forever._

"_Come on, Reese, come play in the water! It's fun!" a little girl called out to the beach._

"_Nah, I think I'd rather stay here." was the boy's reply. "I don't feel like getting wet today."_

"_Aw, really? It's boring without you."_

_Although she was older than him, the girl always felt like she needed her brother's company to have a good time. "No, and that's my final answer." All of a sudden the girl started chuckling. "What's so funny?"_

_Trying to conceal her laughter, and failing miserably, she said, "Turn around."_

_As per request, Reese turned around, and gasped in shock as the sand castle bucket they had been using earlier floated above his head, a pink aura surrounding it. Before he could move any further, the bucket flipped over, pouring water all over his head and thoroughly soaking him._

"_Hey, what gives!" shouted an angered Reese. He heard another insane laughter, this time that of a pokemon. A Chingling, to be specific. "Oh, was that you, Chime?" The small Psychic type grinned and rolled over laughing._

_And then the Chingling was shot into the water near the girl as a jet of more water slammed into its side. A triumphant Totodile walked up into its place, smiling at its trainer._

"_What was… oh, it was you, Totodile," said Reese, thankfully. "Thanks for lookin' out for me." He pet the small pokemon's muzzle, which caused a happy "Dile!" to escape from it._

"_How are you teaching Totodile to behave?" yelled the girl. "He needs to learn some manners."_

"_Isn't Chime the one who just poured a bucket of water all over me?" replied Reese, pointing his finger toward the pokemon in question._

"_Well, Chime… uh… well…" she stammered. "…Shut up, Reese!"_

"_Oh, great comeback, Alicia." He clapped his hands in mock applause._

"_Well, you've never come up with anything better than that!"_

"_Have to!"_

"_Have not!"_

"_Have-"_

"_Would you two calm down," said another voice, stern, yet calm. "Or do I have to lecture you again?"_

_A tall, muscular, blurry figure stood from the water, the source of the voice._

"_No, dad…" responded the children._

"_Good. Now, I have something for both of you."_

"_Really?" they asked, practically at the same time. "What is it?_

_The man unballed his fists, palms facing upward, to reveal a small, triangular object in each hand…_

_

* * *

_

"Yaaaaah!" I cried, startled awake by a painful stinging in my arm. I flailed around and quickly looked up to see more giant people, two of them, this time sticking a syringe into my tiny arm and watched as it filled up with a small amount of my blood.

"You see! I told you that you would wake him up," said one of the pair.

"It doesn't matter," replied the other. "We have his blood, so let's just get out of here. I don't like being in the enclosures at night, especially after what happened earlier today."

"Why do you need my blood?" I wondered. I still heard the same "Larv" sound. I almost jumped, but remembered the previous events.

"All right, fine. See ya, little guy."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Before I got an answer, they walked away.

I rubbed my arm, which was strangely numb, and took a look around me. I realized it was night, and that I was in a small cave, with stone walls in all directions except the way the people had left before, the exit.

"So, this is reality," I said to myself. "Not some dream. Ugh, what a mess."

I heard some groaning to my side as I saw another figure stand up. "Oh, you're awake now!" said a voice, which I recognized as the Tyranitar from before. She took a few steps before lying down again beside me. Without a chance to struggle back, she pulled me to her chest, in what I assumed was a hug.

"You gave your father and I quite a scare earlier today, you know." And she hugged me tighter.

I was still in a daze from everything that had occurred recently, so I didn't realize right away what she was talking about. Ignoring the fact that I could understand what she said, I asked, "Wait, so let me straighten things out. I now have a Tyranitar as a mother?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Right… and an Aggron is my father."

"Correct. He's the one who saved you, ya know."

"What do you mean?"

"You jumped into the water earlier, and your father jumped in after to get you. You were unconscious, and have been that way since now."

"Oh," I sighed. "I guess I should thank him for that. God, this is too much to handle right now. I need a break."

"What, you mean eight hours of rest wasn't enough?"

"Eight hours!" I exclaimed. "Was I out for that long?"

"Well, I'm sure a Rock and Ground type jumping into water and being knocked unconscious would make someone exhausted." She laughed slightly.

"Oh, right… well, I need to figure out how to get out of this mess."

"What are you talking about, child?" She sat there, thoughtful, and then exclaimed, "Wait, let me guess… you were human once, and you somehow died and were reborn as the Larvitar you are now?"

I was frozen stiff by her accurate prediction. "Uh… how… how did you guess that?"

She hugged me even tighter to her chest. "Well, you certainly didn't do a good job of trying to hide it. Plus, you were able to talk right away after you hatched, which is something most pokemon should never be able to do.

Somehow, I had a feeling this would become a story.

"I haven't been stuck in this place my entire life, you know. In the wild, I've met others like you. As in, other humans who were reborn as pokemon. They usually were reborn because they had some kind of 'unfinished business' or they did something to deserve it. So I know what qualities reborns like you should have."

With that heard, I remembered my reason for coming back: supposedly so I could learn a lesson, not for either of those reasons.

"Besides," she continued, "The emergency alarm had gone off earlier, and everyone was instructed to leave. I heard them talking about someone jumping off of the cliff this place is built on."

"I did not jump off! I fell!" I blurted out. My hands instinctively covered my tiny mouth.

"So I was right, it was you," she said, smirking.

I grunted. "Well, I guess I can't deny it anymore. But because of that, I'm now trapped in the body of a weak little Rock-monster… thing.

"Oh, don't be so hard on yourself. Think on the bright side-"

"Pfft, bright side? What 'bright side' could there be to this situation?"

"Maybe, if you let someone _finish talking_," she said, putting emphasis on her last words, "you would've heard me say that at least you'll evolve into a very strong pokemon." She flexed her muscles to show off, though her rocky arms didn't move much.

"Eh, I guess so. Tyranitar has always been my favorite pokemon."

"Really? Then I guess you have something to look forward to after all."

We were both silent for a few moments, just listening to the silent sounds of the night. She continued soon after with another question.

"Now, what were you dreaming about earlier? You were shaking and squirming a lot, so I can assume it was a nightmare?"

"N-not exactly," I said, "It was something about my old family." I immediately felt myself become depressed. "It wasn't really a dream, more like a memory. Of the beginning of something… bad.

"Oh? What would have happened?"

"I-I don't want to discuss it."

She sighed. "Well, don't worry, I won't make you talk if you don't want to. I'm sure they miss you, but trust me, I'll take care of you." She kissed me again on the forehead and curled up behind me to rest. "Now, as another issue: what should we name you?"

"Name me?" I wondered. "Why can't I just stick with the name I already had?"

"What was it?"

"Reese."

She looked thoughtful for a moment. "No, that wouldn't be a good name for you. That sounds too much like a human name,"

"Gee, I wonder why," I said with exaggerated sarcasm. "If I'm going to be forced to have a new name, could you at least come up with something that isn't extremely generic?"

"What, like 'Rocky?' No, I wouldn't use something like that. Lemme think for a minute."

So I sat there and waited, but quickly she came up with a suggestion. "How about Grant?"

"Grant? How'd you come up with that?"

"Well, I thought of the word 'granite' when I was thinking about types of rocks. If you play around with the word, Grant kind of sounds like granite. That, and it's a lesser-used name for humans too, I believe, so I thought it would make you make you happy, too."

I considered it for a moment, but found no good reasons to dispute it. "Eh, I guess it's okay."

"Grant it is, then," she said. "Now, you should probably get some more sleep. You're going to need it."

"Thanks," I leaned my head back to rest, but hit it on her hard body. "Uh, could you please move out of the way?"

"Not after what happened earlier. I need to make sure you don't go running off anywhere."

"What, you don't trust me?

"No, dear."

"Awesome," I said flatly, and closed my eyes to drift off into peaceful sleep.

* * *

"No, y-you cannot be serious. I just saw-"

"I'm sorry, misses," Tobias began, sniffling slightly as he did so, "but Reese really is dead."

"But didn't he go on a field trip just today?" asked the grandfather, still struck by the information. "Did it happen there? God, do they not even bother to give the children chaperones? Do they even care about them?"

"Please, don't talk like that! It was an accident."

"I don't care! Was anybody with him?"

"No, but I had talked with him before the… incident. We got into an argument, and he stormed off after that." He stopped, and took a deep breath.

"What was the matter?" Reese's grandmother managed to say, her voice cracking from the built-up emotion.

"We had a friendly pokemon battle, and he was mistreating his Totodile. He started yelling at both me and Totodile, and I said something about that beach accident-"

Both the grandparents gasped. "Why would you bring that up? You know that he doesn't like to talk about it."

"I barely said anything. I virtually got out the word 'beach' and he flipped on me and ran away."

The grandmother sighed, with even her breaths coming out in quick puffs. "I-I just need some time to think about this." She stood up, and walked solemnly down the short hallway to her bedroom, the grandfather trailing closely behind her.

Tobias heard the door open and shut quickly, and heard more muffled crying from the room. He sighed, then said, "Well, looks like we're alone now, Sam."

Sam had been sitting on the couch next to Tobias the entire time, more silent than she had ever been in her life. She remained so when he talked.

"Come on, say something. I know it's sad, but you can't just sit there all day." She just sat there. "All right, here's an idea. Why don't you just let the pokemon out? That might make you feel better.

Samantha drew in a deep, labored breath, and pointed towards her backpack, which was on the floor to the left of the couch.

"They're in there?" Tobias asked. She nodded slowly in affirmation, and he stood up and walked over to the bag. He opened the front pocket and shuffled through the items within, coming across a small, colorful ticket stub. Curious, he took it out and observed it. It read "Pokemon Exhibition Park; Summer Season Ticket."

Dismissing it as nothing important, he placed it back in the bag and dug deeper until he hit two spherical objects, pokeballs. He picked them up and pressed the center button on each, releasing them, simultaneously pressing the button on the pokeball at his waist. In three flashes, a Chimchar, Turtwig, and Totodile appeared.

The Chimchar looked around for a moment, observing his new environment, but quickly noticed Samantha, who was still near tears. He jumped onto her lap, being careful to avoid burning anything with the flame on his tail, and nuzzled his head against her chin, causing her to smile slightly and pet his head.

Tobias himself sat down beside Samantha and her pokemon. He pat his lap in a gesture to instruct Synth to come up, to which the Turtwig complied. He pet Synth's head as well.

The moment would have been complete if Totodile had anybody to sit with as well. But, with no trainer or person to care for him, he visibly became depressed and began to walk away.

"Wait, Totodile," to Tobias's surprise, Sam said. The Big Jaw pokemon turned around to see her. "Come here, boy." She patted her hand on an open spot between her and Tobias.

Reluctantly, Totodile walked over to the couch and, with some difficulty, climbed up to the specified place for him. Sam began to pet his head as well as her Chimchar's. He smiled, but was probably as reluctant to as Samantha was to talk.

"So how did you get his Totodile?" Tobias asked.

Without turning her attention away from the pokemon, she said, "I found him with his pokeball and the necklace. He was scratched up pretty bad, though."

"Must've been from the battle earlier. Sorry about that."

"It's fine." Totodile said, though of course they didn't understand him.

"I have to say, Tobias," Sam began, "you seem to be dealing with the death of your best friend pretty well." She said this in a somewhat accusative tone, while raising an eyebrow.

"What exactly is that supposed to mean?"

"What it sounds like. It doesn't seem like you've been at all upset about all of this. Why so?"

"Maybe I just don't feel like spending all of my time moping around."

"That may be true. But I'd still expect some sort of emotion from you." Tobias mumbled something under his breath. "What did you say?"

"You haven't seen him recently, Sam," Tobias began. "He's changed into something, but whatever it was, it wasn't the Reese I knew.

"What are you talking about?"

Tobias pointed his finger towards Totodile. "Haven't you noticed how upset Totodile's been lately? It's because Reese has only seen him as a tool, not a friend. He used to care, but for some reason he just doesn't anymore."

"Really?" Samantha looked Totodile in the eyes. "Is this true?"

As the saying goes, eyes cannot lie. At the mention of Reese's name, Samantha could see the fear in Totodile's eyes, the fear and loneliness that would stem from years of neglectful "companionship" with his trainer. Somehow, she was able to recognize this.

"Oh… Totodile looks sad. Maybe you're right."

"Here's an idea; why don't you take Totodile with you? He seems to have warmed up to you a little. It might help him feel better, too."

Both Totodile and Samantha were taken aback by the spontaneous suggestion. "What made you think of that?"

"I dunno. I just seems like you both could make each other feel better after… all of this. Besides, he got you talk, didn't he?"

Just then Samantha realized how much she had been saying since she set the pokemon next to her. She chuckled a little. "I guess you may be right… again."

"What does that make, the fifth time tonight?"

"Oh, shut up!" she said, laughter causing her voice to crack.

"There's the emotion I've been waiting to see!"

"…You certainly have a way to do anything, don't you?"

Ignoring the statement, Tobias continued. "Don't worry about taking Totodile, I'll get it straightened out with Reese's grandparents. I'm sure they won't mind having him gone for a few days."

"You do that, I should probably leave." She stood up. "My parents are probably starting to get worried. Can I have their pokeballs back?"

"Sure," he said tossing both to her at the same time. She managed to catch them both and tucked them into the front pocket of her backpack. "You're not going to put them back in their balls?"

"Nah, I think Lea and Totodile would rather walk than be cooped up in there the whole time."

"Lea?"

"Chimchar. You can't even remember the name I gave him?"

"Sorry, must have slipped my mind." She opened the door. "See ya, Sam."

"Bye, Tobias." She walked out, holding Lea in her arms and Totodile trailing close behind, and closed the door softly behind her.

Tobias let out a big sigh.

"Make sure he's happy, Sam."

* * *

It was morning when I woke up again. I didn't have any dreams or nightmares this time around, just peaceful sleep that, as always, ended far too quickly.

"Good morning," said the Tyranitar, already awake before me, "did you have nice rest?"

"I guess so," I said. I felt my stomach grumble loudly, and asked "so is there anything to eat around here?"

"Not yet. We have to wait for the workers to get here to feed all the pokemon here."

"Great, so now I can't even eat on my own. When will they get here?"

"Well, according to that," she pointed to a very out-out-place clock hanging up on the wall of the cave, "it's seven o'clock now. They usually get here at eight."

"Why is there a clock in here, anyway?"

"The workers usually use it when they're in this cave for a while."

"Oh. So I have to wait an entire hour to eat anything?"

"Not exactly. As a Larvitar, you can generally eat soil and dirt for nourishment. You can have some of that if you want."

I remembered the taste of it from before, how it somehow tasted good. "Finally, one perk to all of this." I reached down to scoop some up, but I quickly realized the floor was made of stone, which I couldn't dig through. "Do I have to go outside?"

"Seeing as there's nothing else you can really do, that would be a yes."

I groggily stood up from where I was sitting. But I took one step, and my legs buckled, causing me to collapse onto the ground.

"Gah! My leg!" I cried.

"Are you okay?" asked the Tyranitar.

"I just took one step and I felt like my leg muscles exploded or something."

"Hmm, oh, I know. Since you were just born, your muscles are going to too weak to let you do more than crawl a few feet. It'll probably last two or three days."

"What? Now I can't even move on my own?"

"Oh don't fret. I'll just carry you." She bent down to scoop me off the ground, but I waved an arm in front of my face.

"No, that's too embarrassing. I'd rather just do it on my own."

"If that's what you want." She stretched out her arms and began to walk outside of the cave.

I tried to stand up again, but it hurt too much and I fell back down. With no other choice, I dragged myself across the stony ground towards the exit. That hurt my arms too, though, and in a matter of seconds they were throbbing in pain.

I had probably only moved about five inches.

"Wait, Tyranitar!" I shouted. She turned around and glanced at me. "Could you, uh… help?"

"Already? I thought you said you could do it on your own."

"Well, apparently I can't. So can you help?"

"I don't know… maybe if you were a little more polite…" her voice trailed off.

"Fine, _please_ help me out," I sneered.

"That sounds better," she said. She walked back into the cave and lifted me from the ground, cradling me in her arms, and turned around yet again to go out of the dark cave.

"God, this is embarrassing," I said.

"But it doesn't seem like you have much of a choice, do you?"

"Oh, shut up, Tyranitar."

"You know, it's also impolite to call me by my species name. Couldn't you call me 'mother' or 'mama' like you're supposed to?"

"Seeing as you're not my real mother, I don't think I'd like to call you that."

She seemed thoughtful for moment, then said, "Well, then, aren't you an arrogant little Larvitar."

"Hey, that's my name either!"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I don't care."

She dropped me from her arms (which was a painful five-foot drop) and continued with, "Here, you can eat the soil from here." She began to walk away.

"Wait, Tyranitar, come back! What if I need to go somewhere?"

"I'm sorry, who again?" she responded with a chuckle, and continued away, leaving me alone.

"Fine, be that way." I scooped up some dirt and flung it behind me. The dirt wasn't good, I had to get to the earth beneath. After digging enough and making a small pile of dirt behind me, I felt the slightly damp soil that I had had before.

"Finally, some food… sort of." I scooped some of the soil and popped it into my mouth. It tasted the same as before, but I was just glad I had something to eat. I kept eating, unaware of the passing time, but I think I was probably there for about half an hour, filling myself until I couldn't eat anymore.

"All right, now I have to get back," I told myself. I stood up and took a step, remembering too late that I couldn't. Essentially stuck there, I shouted "Can anyone help me?"

No response.

"Please? Isn't anybody here?"

"I am!" I whirled around to see a small Diglett popping its head out of the ground. I jumped from surprise, though it hurt to do so.

"Damn, you scared me," I said. "What do you want?"

"What did you need help with? I can help!"

"Uh, thanks," I said, feeling slightly awkward, "but I need to get back over there." I pointed to the cave, which, I just realized, was under the small cliff of the enclosure.

"But you have legs. Why don't you use them?"

I growled at him. "Because I was just born and someone seems to think its funny that my legs hurt too much to use them."

"Oh, I get it! But wait, if you were just born, how can you talk?"

"Would you quit asking questions and just help already?"

"Okay, how can I help?"

I smacked myself in the forehead. "Listen carefully. I need you," I pointed at the Diglett, "to get me," I pointed to myself, "over there," I pointed to the cave. "But, you don't have any hands or anything to carry me, so I guess it's a no-go."

"Nonsense!" he exclaimed. "Hang on one moment!" His head disappeared under the ground.

I wondered where he had gone, but I felt a small tremor beneath me and was lifted off the ground.

"Gyah!" I screamed in surprise, and fell back down. Looking up, I realized the Diglett had tried to balance me on his head.

"Well you can't get all scared at me when I try to help you!" he said.

I rubbed my temples, and started to realize my arms were hurting again as well as my legs. "Okay, I know you're trying to help, but seriously, that was one the stupidest ideas I've ever seen attempted in my life."

"Isn't it the only idea you've ever seen attempted in your life?" I growled at him again. "Oh, wait, I have another idea!" With that, he popped his head back underground.

"Great, what now?" I wondered aloud. Soon enough, I got my answer.

I heard the Diglett emerge from the ground, but what I wasn't prepared for was his head to ram into my side, launching me a few feet forward.

I eventually rolled to a stop, and dizzily sat up. He popped his head up again.

"What the hell kind of idea was that!?" I yelled at him.

"I'm getting you to the cave, obviously!" Well, there was no arguing with that logic (sarcasm). Before I could repeat my thoughts to him, he slammed into me again, making me go another few feet.

"What is wrong with you? I'm not freakin' pinball!"

"Of course you're not, silly! If you were a pinball, I think there would be something seriously wrong with you." He hit me again.

"I just met you about five minutes ago and I'm already starting to hate you."

"What is hate?" he asked, again attacking me.

So, through a long series of bitching and what I wished could be classified as felony assault so the police could send that little mole away from me, we made it back to the cave, where the Tyranitar and the Aggron, who I hadn't seen since yesterday, were waiting for me. I flopped onto the ground on my stomach.

"Oh, hello there, Grant!" She took notice of the Diglett, and continued with "And hello to you, Clyde. Did you help him get back here?"

"I sure did, Miss Bella!" was his cheerful reply. "He seemed to have fun with it, too!" I grumbled something inappropriate under my breath.

"Well thank you for helping him out," said Aggron, whom I hadn't heard speak in nearly twenty-four hours, "we don't know how long he could've been stuck there if you didn't come." He looked down to me. "Say 'thank you,' son."

"Th-th-thank y-you…" I spat out, spite etched into my voice.

The Diglett, apparently named Clyde, didn't catch on. "No problem, mister and misses! I'm just glad I have a new friend!" I growled at him again, though he didn't hear it.

"All right then, get out of here. I don't think your parents even know where you are."

"Okay, bye then!" Clyde disappeared into his hole in the ground.

Aggron stretched his limbs. "Well, I'm going to go outside. The workers should be getting here soon, so I'll call you when they do." With that, he left me and my new mother alone.

"So, you have a new friend?" she asked.

"Keep that little turdball away from me!" I replied.

"Oh, come on, he isn't _that_ annoying." I gave her a piercing glare. "Okay, maybe he is. But still, now will that get you to call me mother?"

"That's what this was about? Can't I just call you Bella? I'm assuming that's your real name."

She sighed. "Fine, if you must. At least it's a step up from Tyranitar."

"Hey guys!" shouted the now-familiar voice of Aggron, the workers are here! It's time for breakfast!"

I sat up from the ground. "So what I'm now being told is that after all I just went through, were getting food _now_?"

"Yep. But you've had enough to eat I think, so you can just wait here." Bella walked out of the cave, but before she left, she said, "Hey, nobody said this was going to be easy for you, Grant." And she left.

"I never said I wanted to be a pokemon," I said to myself.

With nobody around and nowhere to go, all I could do was sit there and think. But the only words were I thought of were those of Giratina's:

_You need to learn a lesson._

* * *

**Well, there you have it. Please review, if you have the time. And review even if you don't.**

**Just a quick little fun fact. Digletts have always sort of reminded me of the little ghosts from Pac-Man for some reason. So, I based the Diglett's name here off of one of them, Clyde. I think that's the red one.**

**Lea the Chimchar's name is pronounced as Lee. If you can get the reason why I named him Lea, then you have probably played Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days. (Hint: it has to do with the fact that he is a Fire type.)**

**Just to clear any possible suspitions, I do not intend to stop writing this out of nowhere, like some other people may do. I may have trouble updating frequently enough at times, but I want to actually make this a story that won't die out immediately.**

**So... that's it. As mentioned earlier, please review!**

**-Finalsmasher13  
**


	5. Reminiscent of a Disaster

**Monday: Started a Math Test, Worked on an English Project**

**Tuesday: Finished a Math Test, Took an English Test**

**Wednesday: Started a Biology Test, worked on an English Project**

**Thursday: Took a Math Quiz, Finished a Biology Test, Started a Spanish Test, worked on an English project**

**Friday: Finished a Spanish Test, Finished an English Project**

**School. F**king. Sucks.**

**Period.**

* * *

Chapter 5: Reminiscent of a Disaster

The remainder of the night had passed by relatively quickly for Samantha. Her home was a short walk from Reese's, so she arrived in a matter of minutes. She greeted her parents, to whom she explained why she had Reese's Totodile with her, and plopped onto her soft bed, not bothering to change into her night clothes, and let the bliss of sleep overtake her. She let Lea and Totodile sleep on her bed with her, which Totodile did not seem to accept.

The three slept in, since school was closed for obvious reasons, and woke up probably near ten o'clock in the morning. By then, her parents had left for work and her with the house to herself.

"Ngh…" Sam groaned, yawning and stretching her arms. "Good morning, Lea."

She pet the Chimchar, who awoke due to her stirring, on the head. She turned around. "Good morning, To-"

Totodile was not sleeping beside her anymore. Instead, he was standing on the wide windowsill, staring with longing eyes out at the ground from the second-story window. Sam climbed out of bed and stood by him.

"Hey, boy," she cooed. "What's the matter?" There was no response. She gazed out the window as well, but saw nothing peculiar, just the large expanse of land and the ocean farther out.

"I don't see anything… hey, are you upset about… Reese…" She felt a pang of sadness at his name. "I… I miss him too…" She took her head, leaving her trance.

"All right, come on downstairs." She tapped his shoulder, but received no response. She shook him slightly, but still nothing. Finally, she simply said "screw it" and plucked him off his perch.

"Gah! What, what happened?" shouted Totodile, awakened from his stupor.

"Oh, you're back!" Sam said "I thought maybe Mesprit had taken your soul or something."

"What do you mean? Lea, what was I doing?"

Lea, who had jumped off from the bed along with Sam, replied, "You were just sitting there, staring out the window. Like you were hypnotized or something."

"Oh… that's weird."

"All right, come on guys," Sam began, "let's get downstairs for breakfast."

They walked down the flight of stairs, Totodile in Sam's arms and Lea following closely behind. They quickly went into the kitchen, where Sam put Totodile down, and opened a small closet which served as a pantry.

"Okay, let's see, here…" she said, ruffling through some boxes. "Lea, what do you want to eat?"

"You get a choice?" Totodile asked, truthfully confused.

"Yeah, why wouldn't you?"

Lea climbed up his master's back and stood on her head to observe the "menu," causing Sam to giggle slightly. He shuffled through each box until he picked out a red one.

"This one?" With an affirmative nod, she took the box from Lea's tiny hands and set it on the counter. "Totodile, what do you want?"

"Um…" he said, making sense of the situation, "I-I usually don't have any breakfast."

"What do mean?" This time Lea was talking. "Why not?"

"Reese a-always said that small pokemon didn't need three meals per day. He said only big pokemon needed breakfast."

Now it was his turn to be confused. "Dude, that sucks. Why don't you just have the same thing?"

"Um… okay, I guess…"

Tapping Sam's shoulder to get her attention, he pointed back and forth to Totodile and the box of cereal.

"What, does he want the same?" He nodded. "Okay, hang on one moment." She opened the refrigerator door, the cold air causing her to shiver. She took out a large jug of milk.

"Let me get some for myself real quick, okay?" She took out a glass cup and two small bowls from the cabinet and poured some of the milk in the cup. It fell out in large, splotchy chunks, which landed with a "plop!" in the glass. She picked it up and observed it, making no efforts to disguise her disgust.

"Ugh, gross," she said, setting the glass back down. "Okay, I'm gonna go to the general store to get some milk real quick, m'kay? You guys wanna stay here?"

"Stay here?" Totodile asked. "Since when do pokemon not go with their trainers?"

"We'll stay," said Lea, pointing at the floor and nodding.

"You'll stay? Okay then, just don't burn the place down before I get back." She giggled a little, then stared at him. "I mean it."

And with that, she opened the door and left, locking it behind her.

Totodile and Lea simply stood there for a moment, until Lea yawned and started walking back into the kitchen. Curious, Totodile followed him

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Getting a soda," Lea replied. "You want one?"

"Uh… isn't it poisonous to pokemon?"

"That's what they want you to think." He jumped up and grabbed the refrigerator door's handle and pulled until it opened.

"There we go." He moved all the items in the fridge around until he found a small rectangular box, which he knew held the sugary drinks. He reached his hand in and took two cans out from it.

"Catch." He threw the second can at Totodile, who caught it with some trouble.

"I never said I wanted one."

"Ah, well, have it anyway." He jumped up onto the table, which was conveniently placed near the fridge, and popped the cap off of the can.

Totodile, without the same physical abilities as Lea, had to climb onto one of the chairs and then onto the table.

"You're too slow," was Lea's remark on the matter.

"Alligators aren't made for jumping. Don't blame me."

"Oh well. C'mon over here." He jumped down from the table and headed for the living room receiving a sigh from his friend.

"Can't you sit still for three seconds?" With no response from the little fire monkey, he grudgingly climbed down, clutching his soda which was yet to be opened. He saw a quick flash of orange jump up onto the couch, and followed it.

Arriving there, Lea was already relaxed, eyes closed and taking small sips from his can. Totodile jumped up to join him.

"You live a pretty interesting life here, Lea," Totodile began. "How can Sam understand you so well?"

"Hmm?" was the reply. "Well, she doesn't actually know exactly what I'm saying. It's kind of like… I don't really know. I guess we just have enough of a bond that she can vaguely tell what I want."

"Oh…" Totodile became sad. He dipped his head low and buried it in his hands. That's… good for you… I guess…"

Not catching on, Lea continued, "So tell me something, my little blue friend," Lea started, "What did- you still haven't opened that?"

"I just sat down."

"That's no excuse!" He snatched the soda can from his hands and violently snapped the top off.

And violently the fizzy drink shot out of the can, spraying Lea and Totodile as well as the couch they were sitting on.

Lea licked the soda off of his own face. "Here you go!" He held out the can, which was now half empty.

Totodile angrily swiped it back and took a small sip.

"Hmm… it's actually pretty good." He took another sip. "And it only took you spraying everything with soda to prove it."

"Uh… yeah." They sat there for a few moments, sipping their drinks, when Lea continued.

"So as I was saying, what actually happened the other day?"

Totodile stopped drinking. "Uh… what… w-why are you a-asking?"

"What, are you nervous? Got something to hide?"

"Uh, why- why do you think that?"

He waited a minute before responding, seeming to be thinking about something. "Because I can feel the vibrations from your trembling." Sure enough, Totodile noticed he had suddenly started shaking rapidly.

"S-s-sorry," was his remark.

"But seriously though, what happened? I heard them say something about Reese, uh… dying."

Images flashed through the small pokemon's eyes as he saw everything, himself having to attack tennis balls with Water Gun, himself having to destroy boards with his jaws, himself having to sit and watch his trainer eat his favorite foods, and himself watching his own trainer die when he could have easily helped.

"Uh… I… can-can we change the subject?"

"You're clearly upset. Talking will make it better."

Wondering since when the Chimchar had become so considerate, he continued. "If you really w-want to know, it- I finally lost it. Two days ago…"

* * *

The little, blue alligator pokemon walked into the room, a look of uncertainty mixed with fear stricken in his eyes. All he really wanted was to talk- but he knew from previous attempts how well that went over.

Reese was sitting at the computer desk, a pencil in hand and researching what Totodile assumed to be other pokemon. He saw pictures of Skarmory and Tyranitar on the screen. Although he knew his master would not understand him, Totodile still stood in the doorway for at least ten minutes, thinking of what he would say. It was either honest preparation of what was to occur, or nervousness that made him do this, but eventually he stepped completely into the room.

Reese immediately noticed this. He quickly turned his head around and saw Totodile, though Totodile did not look him in the eyes, his own head was dipped down too low.

"What do you want?" Reese sneered out.

"Reese… I-I want to talk…"

Reese made no real response, only a slight grunt that showed his annoyance toward the pokemon. He continued anyway.

"I, I really don't like the way you've been treating me," he said. "All you do is use me for training. We don't really share any kind of real relationship-"

"Whatever you're trying to tell me," he interrupted, "I can't understand you. Just leave me alone, I have school work to do."

"That's my point. Whenever I try to be friendly, you simply wave me off as an annoyance. Other pokemon, their trainers really care about them. We don't really have anything, I- I'm just a tool for you to use.

"I don't know what happened. We used to have a bond, we did. When you were little, and I had been brought over from Johto. I remember the moment you got me, you wanted to give me a name. You didn't though, only because you couldn't think of one. We would play together all the time, and the only real training we did was fun. You made it into a game, like playing Frisbee. I had so much fun back then.

"I don't know what happened though. Now, you could easily come up with a good name, but you chose not to. No, that would make it seem like we were close, and that would make me weak. We don't play anymore, only train. Every day, as soon as you leave school, we train. On the weekends, we train even more. It's not a game now; it's too serious. Heh, if we still played Frisbee, I bet it would be lined with spikes just to make it more efficient training."

"Ugh, I don't care! I just told you, I don't know what you're saying!"

This remark made Totoodile angry. Very angry, in fact. Any emotion he had displayed before, sorrow, nostalgia, fondness, regret- he transformed it all into supreme anger and hate.

"You know what? Think about this: maybe if you actually cared about me, then you would at least have a clue what I was saying!

"What happened to the Reese I knew, the one who was my friend, the one whose friend I was? I bet he drowned in the water with his parents. And all Arceus left was a cold, indignant shell who didn't remember what it was like to be kind. All I want is care, someone who will love me, and I clearly am not going to get it from you! The only reason I haven't run away is because of that damn pokeball you carry with you! So you know what, fuck you! Fuck you, Reese, you can die for all I care!"

"God, that's it!" Reese grabbed the pokeball that Totodile had finished explaining how much he hated. He pointed it at him and pressed the button, sending out a red beam that consumed Totodile completely.

"No! Don't put me in there! I hate it, you don't understand how bad it is! Please, just listen to me!"

Reese understood nothing of what he said, just a string of "Totodiles" repeatedly. The pokemon was soon sucked completely into the ball.

"Now shut up and behave in there."

Totodile felt a brief sense of weightlessness, then jaw-jarring impact as Reese threw the ball carelessly behind him, hitting a hard wall.

"Reese… why?" Totodile felt tears begin to well up in his eyes. "Why do you hate me now?"

* * *

"Wow…" was the only response Lea could muster to say. He was clearly moved by the events described. He couldn't feel sympathy; he had never been in a situation like that. He could only show sorrow and pity for Totodile. "I had no idea… I'm sorry."

They both had set their sodas down, they were both no longer in the mood to drink or eat anything anymore.

"The next time I was let out," Totodile continued, "was when I had that battle with Synth. I lost, and he kept yelling at me. I… I didn't understand it. I mean, I had a type disadvantage. It was predictable that I would lose, but he didn't care."

Lea kept his hand at his mouth, in total awe at the actions of the poor pokemon's trainer.

"The last thing I remember, I saw him holding onto the edge of that cliff. I-I tried to help, b-b-but I couldn't, and he yelled a-at me some more, and I couldn't t-take it anymore, and he, a-and I, and… and…"

At this point, Totodile's emotions came flooding out, literally. He began wailing, his tears so plentiful the made the couch damp. Lea put his short arm around Totodile's neck, and although the watery tears stung him, he didn't care. He only wanted to comfort his friend.

In short, labored gasps between his tears, Totodile spoke.

"I left him there!" he practically screamed. "I left him there, god, what did I do? I could've helped him, he could've lived! I couldn't think, all I knew was I was angry at him! I killed him!"

The two could only sit there, one crying, the other comforting. They stayed like that for a long time, when the front door opened.

"Guys, I'm home!" Samantha called. "You guys want breakfast now?"

She quickly knew something was wrong. The first sign was that Lea did not respond at all to her arrival, as he usually ran up to greet her. The second sign was the most obvious, the loud sound of a pokemon weeping loudly. She set the milk jug she had bought on the table and ran into the living room.

She ignored the fact that two sodas were out and that the couch was sticky from it spilling onto it. Her attention was focused on Totodile, wailing hysterically, and Lea, who looked to her with pleading eyes. Even if she didn't know that Lea wanted her to comfort him, she would have anyway. She sat down and picked up the small alligator, setting him in her lap and stroking him gently with her soft hands.

"Sshh, sshh, it's okay," she cooed. "Come on, calm down. Whatever it is, it'll be okay."

Her meager efforts were successful. Totodile slowed down, beginning to return to his senses. It took at least ten minutes, but he eventually stopped crying and nuzzled up to her chest.

"There, it's alright. Everything's going to be okay."

Totodile didn't care if she talked to him like he was a baby. Or if she only repeated the same words over and over again. Her voice was soothing, and he knew she would always care for him, better than Reese, better than he ever would have. Totodile decided then:

Samantha would be his new trainer.

* * *

The day continued to pass by slowly. Around now, it was five, according to the clock. I still wasn't able to walk, so Bella decided to humor herself by asking me various questions about my previous life.

"So what was you're favorite color?" She asked.

I never said they were good questions.

"Red," I replied.

"What was your favorite book?"

"I never really read much."

"What was your favorite time of day?"

"What is the point of these questions?"

It took her a moment to think of a response. "Because we're both bored and need something to do."

"Well, uh, is there anything less repetitive?"

"We could stare at rocks for another hour."

"Joy," I said sarcastically, though at this point it didn't seem like such a bad idea. "Can I just go outside or something?"

"Sure." She picked me up from the ground and walked with me out of the cave in her arms, which I still found embarrassing and degrading, but had accepted as necessary and stopped whining about it.

"So… what did you want to do?"

"I don't know, I'm stuck in a pen with other pokemon in every corner of my vision. What is there to do?"

"Maybe you could try being a little social? Introduce yourself to everyone?"

"And how exactly does that work? 'Hi, I'm Grant, and I'm a human who was killed in horrifying, sickening manner that would haunt your dreams if I were to describe it. What's your name?'"

"Well, you don't have to be a little asshole about it." She giggled, I remained stoic.

"Hi there, Bella!" called another voice I had not yet heard.

"Looks like you're gonna be social anyway," Bella whispered to me.

A Nidoqueen was walking up to us. She was considerably shorter than Bella, but that came with the species. From my height above the ground, I was looking down to her as well.

"Hi there, Nida!" Bella said enthusiastically.

"Oooh, I haven't talked to you in _ages_!" She quickly took notice of me. "And you're new little baby is here, too!"

I was about to protest to that statement, when I remembered that I technically was a baby.

"Yes, his name is Grant." She smiled. "Say hi, Grant."

"Uh, hi," I said sheepishly.

She gasped. "And he can talk already, too! Isn't he a smart little guy!" She pinched my cheeks, like the stereotypical over-affectionate aunt that every sitcom family has. Since I was recently born, my skin hadn't hardened into rock yet, so it was easy for her.

"Ah, get off of me!" I tried to push her massive hands away, but to no avail.

"And quite an attitude he has as well," she commented.

"You know, I'm right here. You don't have to talk in third person."

"Oh, don't be rude, Grant," Bella inserted. "Show respect to others."

"Rrrgh, fine. Nice to meet you, Nida."

"That's better," she said. "It's nice to meet you, too."

She shifted her attention to Bella. "So, what's your life been like recently? I haven't talked to you in _so_ long!"

"Well, as you know, we received our little miracle here from Arceus." She smiled. I was really getting annoyed by how everyone kept referring to me today as a baby. "But other than that, nothing's really changed, same old same old."

I didn't listen to anything else after that, it was just constant blathering that many people simply called "girl talk." Of course, I was forced to stay there, since I physically couldn't get away, so it was difficult to tune them out. So I focused on other things instead.

For one, I noticed a lot of the zoo staff was here today. As far as I could tell, they were putting up higher fences around the enclosures and, I assumed, the perimeter of the cliff.

I guess someone finally being killed was enough inspiration for them to make it safer.

In the place itself, I saw nothing unusual. Just other pokemon talking and mostly sleeping. There was actually a small, (I assumed to be friendly) fight between two of the pokemon, a Cubone and a Sandshrew. The Cubone repeatedly slashed its club at the Sandshrew, who swiftly dodged every swing. The Sandshrew then used a Sand-Attack, forcing the Cubone to stagger back and rub its eyes. It then used the opportunity to Tackle it, knocking it a few feet away. It ran forward for another Tackle, but the Cubone unsuspectedly swung its bone club, smacking the Sandshrew hard. The battle continued on in a similar manner.

It was then that it occurred to me; I was going to have to battle. It was natural, all pokemon are natural fighters. I didn't know when I would start, but I knew I would have to learn, whether I wanted to or not.

"…and I said, 'No Way!' Isn't that right, Grant?"

"Huh, what?" I stammered, being forced back into the conversation. "I wasn't listening."

"Oh, too bad. Let me start from the beginning." I froze. "It started when-"

"Oh please, no!" I pleaded. "If it was boring enough for me to ignore the first time, why do you think it will be any more riveting the second time?"

"Both Bella and Nida gasped again in surprise, but it was Nida who spoke. She placed her hands on her hips. "Well," she angrily began, "if you're going to be such a little meanie about it, I guess I won't tell you."

"Thank you!" I shouted, relieved.

"I'm sorry about this, Nida," Bella began to explain. "I thought he would be mature enough to handle other visitors, but I guess not."

"Hey!"

"It's alright, I guess it was a boring story anyway." Nida sighed again. "Well, I guess I'd better leave, I got stuff to do."

"Okay then, bye!" I didn't bother to bid her farewell, she was too annoying. Bella set me down lightly on the ground, kneeled until she was only three feet taller than me, and smacked me on the side of the head.

"Ow!" I replied, rubbing my head. In case you didn't know, being smacked by what is essentially a boulder hurts pretty badly. "What was that for?"

"For being rude to guests," was her reply. "You're supposed to show respect to everyone, especially your elders."

"It's not my fault she was so annoying. Too bad I can't just shove her into a pokeball." She smacked me again, this time harder. "Gah! What is with you?"

"Stop being such an asshole to everyone around you. You should consider yourself lucky you weren't put into a pokeball."

"Tch, they wouldn't do that to me."

"Don't count on it. I think you may be having some trouble believing these changes that have been happening. Luckily, I know a way that might help teach you." She began stomping away again.

"What are you gonna do now?"

"I think you need a small punishment to help you learn your little lesson." I was a little unnerved by the echoing of Giratina's words, but quickly dismissed it.

"What, are you just going to leave me by all alone?" She said nothing, so I assumed this was her "punishment."

Not seeing how this was a punishment, I lay on my back and pushed my arms behind my head, to act as a cushion. I closed my eyes and finally was able to relax.

Until about five minutes later…

"Hi there, friend!" No, not him. Anything but him.

I slowly cracked my eyes open, praying to God that it wouldn't be him. But, judging by the fact that I had died, I think God has fun screwing with me.

I opened my eyes all the way, and there, in front of me, was the happy little ball of sunshine himself, Clyde.

Of course, I like to describe him more as the bane of my new existence, but I digress.

"How are you doing on this fine day, today?"

"Can you please leave me alone?"

"But Miss Bella told me you were lonely and wanted a friend to talk to."

"Well, no, I'm fine. Thanks for your consideration, but you can leave now. Shoo."

"She said you might say that, too." I sighed. This must have been the punishment she spoke of.

"She also told me a list of fun questions for you to answer for me." My eyes shot open.

"Oh please, no."

"Number one: What is the color of purple?"

"God save me!"

* * *

**I don't know how I managed to finish this chapter this week, especially with the schedule mentioned above. But somehow I managed. Hopefully you enjoyed it, so please review, whether you liked it or not!**

**-Finalsmasher13**


	6. Risen Emotions

**Well, this definitely took longer to write than I thought it would. Oh well, at least it's here now.**

**And special thanks to MetaGiga for letting me use your joke. Sorry if it's a little downplayed, but I needed to have it in there.  
**

* * *

Chapter 6: Risen Emotions

The rest of the night went something like this:

"Do you like to run?"

"If you were fudge, what kind would you be?"

"What's it like to have hands?"

"What _is_ fudge?"

"Everyone says I have ADD. What is ADD?"

"Hey look, a dust floatie!"

"Wouldn't it be weird if this world was all some kind of fantasy story?"

And so on and so on.

Anyway, I did not speak incorrectly when I said "the rest of the night." Clyde literally did not shut up for probably three hours. For a little pokemon who's shorter than me, he sure has a lot of lung capacity. In fact, how could he be talking, anyway? Where was his mouth?

Now I was back in that cave which, strangely, no other pokemon seemed to inhabit but us. Bella had burst into tearful laughter when she came back for me and realized I was trembling from sheer frustration. Now, she was still trying hard to stifle her laughter.

"W-w-would you j-just sh-sh-shut up a-alread-dy?" My voice shook from my recent trauma to the psyche.

"I'm sorry, Grant," she stifled a chuckle, "but maybe you'll be nicer to people from now on."

"W-wasn't there anything else you c-c-could have done? In-instead of launching that d-damn mole on m-me?"

"Well, it was the first thing I could think of. Pretty creative, no?"

"No," I replied. I took a few deep breaths and regained control over myself. "What exactly does that even teach me about being polite?"

"It teaches you that if you act mean again, the same thing will happen."

I shuddered at the thought of this happening again. "I won't be a helpless infant forever, you know. That isn't going to work forever."

"Oh, I'm well aware of that. And I've already got things planned for when that time comes."

I thought about what she could be thinking of, but I could not come up with anything.

"The point is, don't underestimate me. I'm strong in more ways than one." She laid on the floor, on her stomach. "Now get to sleep, it's already nine o'clock. You have a busy day tomorrow."

"What could I possibly do that will keep me busy for an entire day?"

"You'll see, Grant." She closed her eyes.

"Are you sure you have to call me 'Grant?' I don't like having another name. It's just as annoying as 'Reesey."

"Reesey? What are you talking about?"

"That was the nickname Sam used to call me by."

"Who's Sam?"

I realized that I hadn't explained anything about my friends to her before. "Samantha was her full name. She was one of my friends, before I, uh… died."

"Oh. She must be heartbroken. Were you two close?"

I snorted. "If you mean a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship, then no. She's my friend, yes, but I would never want to date her. Her voice just gets irritating after a while, and she always has some sort of reason for thinking small pokemon can be strong."

Now Bella was even more confused. "Umm… why don't you think small pokemon are strong?"

"Tch, would I win a battle against you?"

"Of course not, you're still too young. But if-"

"Exactly," I agreed. "Larvitar lack any raw stats to take on something like a Tyranitar. It's the same with all pre-evolved pokemon."

"Right… and being in the body of a small pokemon hasn't swayed your prejudice at all?"

"Nope."

"Huh… well, you better get used to it. You're going to be stuck like that for a while now."

"I know. Which is why as soon as I can do things on my own, I'm going to start training so I can evolve right away."

"Don't rush things. It won't get you anywhere in life."

"I'll rush it however much I want. I need to get out of this stupid little body as soon as I can. If there was any pokemon I would ever want to be, I would rather be a Tyranitar than… this." I pointed at myself.

"Well, you do always have to start out small." She chuckled.

_God, I hate puns, _I thought to myself. "I'll do whatever it takes, but I am just not going to stay like this.

"Well, you have fun with that. Just get to sleep, Grant. I'm tired."

"I just told you to stop calling me that!"

"Deal with it." She reached out and wrapped her massive arm around me, pulling me in close so I couldn't escape. Probably because she didn't trust me yet, like she said the other night, although she knows I wouldn't get anywhere anyway. "Now, good night."

"Fine," I said, struggling to break free of her grip, but quickly giving up. "Good night."

* * *

"_No, Alicia!" Reese pleaded, his innocent eyes staring into her's. "Don't go! I'll miss you!"_

"_I'm sorry," she began, heartfelt and sad at the same time. "I have to go. This place just doesn't have anything for me anymore." She sighed. "I just have to go… somewhere. Away from here." She turned around and looked at the boat behind her, the Seagallop of the Sevii Islands, contemplating her actions._

"_Can't I come with you? I'll be a good trainer, too!"_

"_No. You're too young to be trainer right now. Don't worry, we'll find each other again. But for now, I have to leave."_

"_NO!" Reese began to wail like an infant, and tugged on her shirt. "I don't want you to! I don't want you to!"_

_She knelt down to meet his face. "Reese, if I stay here, all I'll be able to think about is mom and dad."_

"_But you're all I have left! I want you to stay!"_

"_Oh, don't say that. You have Totodile with you. And you'll be with grandmom and grandpa."_

"_Yeah, I have Totodile!" Reese said, completely ignoring the sentence after "Totodile." "I have a pokemon, so I should be able to travel with you."_

"_But you're only nine years old. You have to be at least ten to join the league."_

"_So can't you wait another year? We'll go together! It-it'll be f-fun!" His confidence quivered as he continued to speak._

"_For the last time, no. I can't take you with me. Now stop crying." She sounded harsh with her words._

"_A-Alicia…" Reese burst into more tears, soaking Alicia's shirt. "W-why are you being so m-mean? Don't go, d-don't go!"_

"_Oooh…I'm sorry, honey." She said, apologetically, like her mother always did. She hugged him tenderly for a few moments, like her mother always did, and kissed him softly on the head, like her mother always did. "Come on, I'll be back one day. I'll see you then." She stepped onto the boat from the edge of the dock._

"_No, please! Don't!" It was all he could do to repeat the same cries over again._

"_I love you, sweetie." She turned her back and walked further onto the boat, and out of Reese's sight. He tried to follow her, but his grandparents held him back._

"_I love you too! Don't go, please! Don't go! Don't… go…Don't………"_

_

* * *

_

"Grant? Come on, honey, wake up. Wake up!" Bella was pleading. I could hear her, but I couldn't wake up, no matter how much I wanted.

"But… if… then she'll leave me…" It was a weird feeling. I was conscious, yet could not get control of my thoughts and body.

"Stop it. You're worrying me."

"She's… gone… come back…"

It was silent for a few moments, until I felt a hard blow to the head that jarred me awake.

"Gah!" I shouted, surprised. "What was that for, Bella?" I was lying in her folded arms, staring up at her huge, worried face, like a newborn child (which, technically, I was). She had her hand raised, as if to slap me again.

"You were sleep-talking. And you were shaking again, like the night before."

I rubbed my eyes, and found that they were mysteriously wet.

"Was I… crying?" I asked, mystified.

"Yes, dear. You kept asking for somebody not to go away… Alicia, I think it was."

"Oh… yeah, that's right." I drooped my head low. Bella began moving, likely going out of the den, but I paid no heed.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"No…" I said, not willing to let her know about the dream.

"All right. Just know that I care about you, and I'll always be here for you." She smiled and kissed me on the forehead. I wiped it off.

A bright, sunny light enveloped us as we walked out of the cave. I put an arm over my eyes to shield them. When I finally adjusted to the light, I noticed we were standing in a small crowd of other pokemon.

"What are we doing here?" I asked.

"Shouldn't it be obvious? We're just getting breakfast."

A man was dumping an entire fifty-pound bag of standard pokemon feed into a small, circular ring. The bag was completely emptied, and the pokemon took the chance to mindlessly attack it. Not counting Bella, who sighed and immediately walked away.

"Wait, what are you doing? Didn't you just-"

"Yes, I know what I said," Bella said, somewhat agitated. "Just be patient."

With all of the pokemon fed but us, the man hefted up a smaller bag. Still relatively big, but smaller than the other he had been using before. He walked over to us.

"Hey there, Bella!" he said in a cheerful voice.

"Oh, hi there Eli," was Bella's equally cheerful response.

Up close, I could see the man's features more clearly. He was young, probably not much older than I was when I was human. He was skinny, and his face had light acne, but I suppose he used a lot of products to hide it. His hair was short, matted down to his head and a deep black color, with a stroke of blond towards the right side of his head. This contrasted his slightly sun-burnt skin.

"Who is this?" I wondered.

He gasped. "Oh, you must be the new guy!" he practically shouted. "Aw, how are you doin'? Do you like it here?" He rubbed my head.

"Wow, I think I hate you already!" It was my turn to sound (not be) cheerful.

"Be nice, Grant," Bella advised. "Remember the last time you were mean"

Horrid memories of that stupid Diglett came rushing into my head. I grunted at her.

"Hello," I forced myself to speak.

"Oh, my name's Eli," he said, sounding overly-ecstatic. "I volunteer to work here when I can. It's good to meet you, little guy!"

I was repulsed by that name, even worse so than any other embarrassing name I had been given ("Grant" included). Before, I had always been taller than most other people, so I had never thought about what it was like to be short. I had often made fun of people for just that in school, so I probably deserved it.

I was about to make a contradictory statement, but acknowledged the fact that I wasn't even two feet tall, so I shut my mouth. I still balled my hand into (the vague shape of) a fist.

"Here, I think you might be hungry." Now I could tell why Bella had not attacked the food earlier like all of the other pokemon. She waited so that the man, apparently named Eli, would come to her specifically and open another bag of food for her and me. Maybe she actually is a little bit smarter than I originally thought.

Eli reached into his back pants pocket and took out a pocketknife, flipping it to the scissors and cutting open the bag, dumping its contents on the ground.

"Ah, there you go. Eat!"

I stared at the "food," not sure what to make of it. It was simply a pile of brown, spherical pellets that were somehow supposed to be edible.

"Um… what are we supposed to do with this?" I asked. Bella bent down and set me onto the ground, sitting herself down at the same time. She sat cross-legged, which looked strangely awkward for a Tyranitar.

"Um… eat it," was Bella's response. She scooped a handful of the substance into her hands. "What else would you do with it?"

I stuck my hand into the pile and sifted through it. Some of the pellets hard, some were soggy, and some crumbled in my hand.

"I'd… rather not put this stuff in my mouth," I said, retracting my hand and shaking the residue off.

"Well, is it that much of a step up from eating dirt?"

"Touché," I responded. I reluctantly picked up a small bit of the food which was struggle in itself (since Arceus seemed to think that Larvitar should have arms and hands, but no thumbs to help hold on to anything), and forced it into my mouth.

To put it honestly, it was one of the worst things I had ever tasted. It was along the prestigious lines of moldy bread, with a hard crunchy shell that revealed soft, dissolving, putrid mush to float in my mouth.

Eli knelt down to eye level. "So how do you like it, little guy?"

I spat out the brown chunks onto his face.

He slowly blinked, and disgustedly wiped it off with his sleeve. He looked at it, gagged a little, and wiped it again onto his pants. "I'll… take that as a no."

"Obviously," was all I said, though all he heard was a "larv" noise. I sat down at began digging through the dirt. Eli seemed interested, but I didn't pay attention to him.

"What are you doing, little guy?"

I growled at him. "I'm getting something to eat that I can actually down," I said. "It's pretty ironic how dirt actually tastes better than that crap over there."

I laboriously dug into the ground until I hit the soft soil below. I scooped it out in small chunks and ate it, savoring the sweetness in favor of the pellets which, for some reason, Bella seemed to enjoy. The entire time, Eli had been staring at me quizzically.

"What do you still want? Go away, you're bothering me." I waved a hand in his face. He didn't move, he just kept staring at me. "Please go?" He gave no response. "Ugh, fine. I'll go." I pushed myself up and began slowly walking over to Bella's position, hopefully to at least converse a little.

"So how can you eat that crap, anyway?" I asked her, wondering how she was able to eat nearly half the entire pile herself. She looked down and noticed me.

"You don't like it?" I nodded. "I don't think it's that amazing either. But when it's all you eat for so many years, then… wait… something's wrong here."

"What do you mean?"

"How did you get over here? You were just by Eli a second ago."

"Uh, I walked? How else?" It took me a moment to comprehend what I just said. "Wait, I was walking?"

A big, stupid-looking grin manifested on Bella's face. "Yes, you were!" She lifted me into the air and pulled me in to her chest, as an overpowered hug. "Oh, I'm so proud of you!"

"Get off me!" I screamed, flailing and squirming to escape her grip, but she did not relent.

"No! This is a big moment for you!"

"I've been alive for two days; anything is a 'big moment!" I pushed against her giant arms, but still received no give.

"Yeah, but this is the biggest!" She squeezed tighter.

"I… can't… breathe…" I mumbled out. She eventually stopped and set me down, giving me a chance to wheeze back my breath. I used the chance to run away.

"Wait! Don't-" I ignored her and started running. A moment later though, I felt another intense pain in my legs, before they both went stiff and caused me to stumble and fall forward.

"You see? You overdid it, now." Bella's words. She sounded like some sort of mentor trying to advise me, and it was annoying.

I clutched one of my legs tightly, feeling a painful cramp in it. "Rrgh…" I grumbled, "it's not my fault you were trying to kill me."

"Aw, are you okay?" It was Eli. "Don't strain yourself too much, okay?"

"Piss off."

"You should get some rest," he said, completely misunderstanding me, "you'll need it. You're going to be getting a check-up tomorrow."

"Wait, what?"

"We were supposed to do it the other day, but you were all, you know, unconscious. It wasn't exactly going to work as well." He rubbed his hand around my head spike. "All right, see you tomorrow then." He turned around and slowly walked away, smiling.

"Ugh, I hate that guy," I said, as soon as he had gone far enough away. Bella approached me from behind and picked me up in her hands, leaving me suspended in air, still grasping my right leg.

"And why is that so?" she asked.

"He treated me like a little baby."

"Aren't you?"

"Stop bringing logic into this," I said. "It's not fair, anyway. I shouldn't be a little pokemon. I should be like him, a human.

"Is that why you don't like him? Just let it go and be glad you got a second chance. Not everyone gets one, you know." Her voice cracked slightly with the last sentence.

"I don't care. I was going to be a great trainer, and now it's impossible." Under my breath, I added, "all because of that damn Totodile."

"What was that?"

"Nothing," I quickly said.

She put on a look that insinuated she did not believe me, but decided not to go any further into it.

"Whatever. I'm going to go find your father. He always seems to disappear on me around this time."

"I've rarely seen him period. Shouldn't he be supporting his child?" This got me a small smack on the head for "rudeness," as Bella put it.

"He does. Your father just likes to be on his own, sometimes."

"All right then. You can leave me in the den over there while you do that."

"Hmm? What do you mean by that? You're coming with me."

"What? Why? I don't care about him, you do." That comment received me another hit, in the face this time.

"I don't care. I'm not stupid enough to let you stay anywhere on your own."

"What, you still can't trust me?"

"Oh, I never will completely trust you, sweetie. As long as you have the mind of a human, I'll have to be careful with you."

"Oh, please. What's the worst that could happen?"

She said nothing, only pointed her free hand in the direction of the water.

"Point taken," I said. "But do you still have to carry me? If I can walk, then what's the point?"

"You can only walk a few steps," she explained. "You're not exactly going to get very far."

I realized that she was probably correct, and I rubbed my temples. "Ugh, God why does this have to happen to me?"

"Maybe you shouldn't have gone and gotten yourself killed."

"I asked God, not you." She slapped me again. "Oh come on! What did I do that time?"

"You were being rude. As usual."

"Why do I need to take etiquette lessons from you?" She raised her hand. "Fine, fine, I get it. Sorry."

"That's better." We walked a little bit further, when I heard the sound of the ground opening in front of us.

"Why, hello there, Miss Bella! And same to you, Grant!" Do I need to tell you who it was?

Bella giggled a little. "Hi there, Clyde. I see you're doing well, today."

"I sure am!"

I wouldn't have said anything to him, but I feared another smack from Bella.

"…Hi, Clyde…" I managed to say. I glared at him.

"Hello again to you, Grant." He was oblivious to any kind of negative emotion. "So, where are you going?"

"Oh, nowhere important," Bella answered. "Hey, Grant, weren't you saying you didn't want to come?"

"Of course I don't," I said. My eyes bulged when I realized what she was planning. "No, wait, I-"

"Okay then, see you later!" She dropped me onto the ground and quickly paced away.

"No! Don't leave me with him!" No response, and soon she was off. I felt a slight nuzzling against my side, and turned around to see Clyde rubbing against me.

"Um… what the hell are you doing?" I asked him.

"It's the best I can do for a hug," he replied. "No limbs."

"Why are you hugging me, anyway?"

"Isn't that what friends do when they're happy to see each other?"

He thought I was his friend? Boy, was he in for a surprise.

"First off," I explained, "that is not what friends do all the time. That would be stupid. Second off, I am not your friend. What could have possibly given you the idea that I was?"

He showed a small flicker of dismay, but immediately went back to his perky mode. Still, it was easy to spot.

"Well, you talked to me before… and you listened to me before… and that's it!"

"Kid, you need to get a new definition of 'friend.' Because I'm not yours."

He couldn't hide hid sadness. "Gosh… I only wanted to say hi… you didn't have to be so mean…"

"Maybe if you weren't so damn annoying, maybe I would like you a little bit more!" He was shocked and hurt, anyone could see it in his eyes. But I continued on my tirade.

"Seriously, I've only seen you three times and you've already put so many horrible memories into me! God, why can't you just be normal!"

_Like you have any room to talk,_ said the voice in my head. I ignored it.

"But… but I thought-"

"You thought wrong. Get some brain cells and _maybe_ we'll talk."

Clyde's eyes began to cloud with watery tears. He said nothing else, he simply disappeared into his hole in the ground, which immediately closed up when he was through.

"Overly sensitive little baby," I mumbled out. With nothing else to do, I began walking (slowly, to be sure I wouldn't hurt myself) back in the direction of the cave. When I turned around, though, I noticed a quick flash of green disappear behind a large boulder. Thinking nothing of it, I continued on.

* * *

It must have been a few hours before Bella and Aggron (whom I had not yet learned the name of) returned, considering I was able to get some peaceful sleep before I saw them. They both wore disapproving looks on their faces.

"Oh, hi you two," I said. "About time you got back."

They both stood around me, their giant size making me feel much smaller in comparison.

"Lexus," Bella began, "would you mind leaving for a moment? I'd like to talk to my son. _Alone._"

Lexus, which is apparently his name, with a still angry look on his face, turned and walked out, leaving me alone with Bella.

"So, what did you want?" She bent over and slammed her hand against my head, knocking me over onto my side. "Gah! What was that for?"

"You should very well know," she sneered out, using a tone I had not yet heard her use.

Rubbing my head, I asked, "What do you mean?"

"Do you not realize how much you hurt poor little Clyde? He's probably just sitting all by his lonesome underground right now."

"Huh? How do you even know? I thought you were going to look for Lexus."

"I stuck around to see what you would do. And you clearly acted like a complete asshole to him."

"Well, he thought I was his friend! I needed to make sure he got any of those thoughts out of his head."

"Why isn't he your friend? What did he ever do to you?"

"He smacked me around for ten minutes and wouldn't shut up when I asked 'nicely!"

"I see… and it didn't occur to you at all that he was just trying to help?"

"Now what are you talking about?"

"The first time, you couldn't walk, so he was trying to help come back to this cave. You probably would have been stranded there for much longer if he didn't come. And the second time, he didn't stop talking because I told him not to. He didn't know any better because he thought he was helping me. He only wants to make everyone happy, so why can't you see that!"

"You don't get it! You just don't understand how annoying he is!" A foolish thing to say.

"Pfft. I've been here much longer than you have, Reese." She unnerved me a little by using my real name. "I know better than you what Clyde is like. He's just an innocent child with good intentions. But you won't even give him the time of day to get to know him."

"I don't care! I don't even see why I was cursed to live like this! Why should I have to worry about someone that makes no difference in my life?"

She sighed, anger seeping out of her. "You know what? You just need to stop pitying yourself and accept your new chance. You really just don't understand how lucky you are. The pokemon gods took an interest in you for some reason, and right now, you're probably making them regret their decision!"

I had no response ready for that kind of argument. I just sat and listened.

"Now, I'll tell you this right now. You really hurt Clyde today, and he definitely didn't deserve it. So I'm going to give you a simple choice: you can find him and apologize to him, whether you actually mean it or not. Or, you can sit here and ignore everything I've just said."

_Apologize to him. It's the right thing to do. You know what you did, and you have to at least make amends._

"I'll just stay here," I decided. "It doesn't matter."

_You idiot! Why are you doing nothing?_

"Fine," Bella concluded. "I thought that since you were reborn that maybe you would be a little bit smarter than other pokemon. But, as it turns out, you're still just a baby." She spun around and stormed out of a cave, with ferocity so intense that it would probably make a Garchomp cower in fear.

_What is wrong with you? Is there any hope left for you?_

That voice… it was right, I knew it. But I couldn't accept it, I was too proud to think Clyde deserved an apology.

All I could do was sit there in the darkness of that cave. The sun may have been shining brightly just outside, but somewhere, deep down, I knew that I didn't belong in it.

* * *

**Wow, this definitely ended up being a lot longer than I planned**. **Most of it is filler, but still.**

**Poor little Clyde, he definitely didn't deserve that. But it's necesary for what is coming up next... heh heh.**

**By the way, could you tell me if I rushed through things a little too much in this chapter? I kinda think I did, so I'd like to hear what you think. Please be honest, I want to become a better writer.**

**-Finalsmasher13  
**


	7. Fate Set in Stone

**So, did everyone have good Christmas? I sure did. Here's hoping your New Year's Eve is just as great!**

**On to relevant news. Sorry this was a little bit delayed. I've been held up a lot because of the holidays and haven't had much time to write. I wanted to have it posted by Christmas Eve, but I just couldn't get it done on time. Oh well, at least I tried.**

* * *

Chapter 7: Fate Set in Stone

Samantha sighed, Tobias following in suit, exhausted by the events of the past days. Some of the pokemon were playing in the remains of the old playground, each in their own way. Lea, as his species classification may imply, was swinging on the monkey bars, despite that pieces and entire rungs were missing. Synth was having fun gliding down the slope of the metal slide and struggling to climb back up, just to repeat the process afterwards.

Totodile, as opposed to them, was not playing. He did not feel the joy of his two companions; he couldn't. Like Samantha, reality had taken its toll on him, too. As a result, he didn't feel he deserved to have fun. No matter how anyone could sugar-coat it or how many times he was told that it was coming to the trainer, Totodile knew that he was a murderer. Plain and simple. He was nestled in his new master's lap, her soft arms wrapped around his tiny chest. It comforted him; at least the warmth of her embrace kept his mind off the subject.

"It's amazing," Tobias began, "how they can always find a way to have fun even in a place like this." Anything to start a conversation, he thought.

"I guess so," was Sam's solemn reply. Seconds of uncomfortable silence ticked by, the two moving their legs in a way that swung the swings they sat on inches forward and backward.

"I talked to Reese's grandparents," he said. "They said it was okay if you kept Totodile. Said it would be best if he goes on the journey, even if Reese can't."

She smiled and pet the small alligator's head, but elicited no response from him. "That's good. I've been starting to grow on him, anyway."

"Sam, I've been meaning to talk to you."

"About what?" Her smile vanished. She looked at him; he returned the gesture.

"I want to leave."

Samantha was taken aback by the statement. "Huh? What are you talking about?"

"I want to leave the islands. I just… I can't stay here. Not after what happened."

"Tobias…" she groaned. "Do you really have to go? I don't really have any other friends here, and-"

"I want you to come with me," he cut in.

"What? Really?"

"I know you can't stay here either. Like you said, you don't really have many other friends besides me anymore. We're both planning on going to Sinnoh, so it seems pretty convenient. And we can both start our journey now; we've already waited years past our tenth birthday."

"But… what about school?"

"Even if we fail the final test, it's not going to prevent us from getting a trainer's license. It's not exactly mandatory to even have a big education to become a trainer.

"Okay. And our parents?"

"My parents already agreed on this. Trust me, I can get yours to understand."

She didn't bother to ask what he meant. "Okay, I'll go with you. I guess it won't do any harm to start a little bit earlier than usual."

"Good. We leave in two days."

"What!" She shouted. She nearly forced Totodile off of her lap.

Tobias rubbed his ear. "Dang, don't scream so loudly."

"Well don't you think that's a little too quick? I mean, we still have to get ready and pack up everything."

"I'm already ready," he said. "It's not like it takes that long to get everything together."

She was mystified. "You're telling me that you were able to prepare for an entire journey that will take up a good few years of your life in one night?"

"Well, except for warmer clothes," he said, sheepishly. "They don't sell snow jackets in this tropical place. Aside from that, all you'll need is a backpack, some money, a few pokeballs and some first-aid stuff."

"And you already have everything?" She sounded skeptical, but he nodded. "Well, I guess I should start packing, then."

"Be quick about it." Tobias shoved his hand in his pocket and took out a paper stub. He tossed it to Samantha, who missed, and Totodile caught it for her. "We already have the boat tickets."

Totodile handed the ticket to her. She examined it, stunned. "Were you really that confident I'd say yes?"

"I just had a feeling you would." He smiled. Sam did the same and placed the ticket in her pocket.

The three sat and stared for a short while. Lea and Synth had both grown tired; Synth was lying on the ground with his stubby legs sprawled, with Lea drowsily resting his head on the shell. Totodile was secretly glad that they were to leave soon. He wanted to get as far away as possible from this place.

"Before we leave," Samantha said, breaking the silence, "I have one more thing I need to do."

"Huh? What is it?" Tobias inquired.

"I just wanted to go back to the zoo one more time. I never got to see that baby Larvitar that hatched."

This time, Tobias was taken aback. "No, you don't want to go back there. It will only bring back those painful memories."

"Oh, come on." She tugged at his shirt like a child would her father. "I only want to see the baby. It's not like I'm going to be there forever."

"I don't know…"

"Besides, I bought that season ticket for a reason. I don't want it to go to waste. Especially since it cost fifty dollars and I've only used it once."

Tobias was quiet, considering the notion. "…Fine, whatever. I'm going with you though. Just to make sure you don't get carried away."

"Good, 'cause I was about to ask."

Tobias looked up at the sky, noticing the approaching night. "Well, we should probably start heading home. We both have a big day tomorrow and the day after."

"Okay, sure." They each called their respective pokemon over, waking them from their nap in the process. Samantha set Totodile on the ground and stood up, stretching her limbs. Tobias did the same.

"Just think, Sam," Tobias said as they started their way home the pokemon following in tow, "two days from now we'll be on our way to Sinnoh. Are you excited?"

"I have to be. Otherwise you wouldn't be taking me with you, would you?"

They both laughed, and the question went unanswered.

* * *

I had been left alone for the rest of the day. Bella and Clyde were practically invisible, but I didn't go looking for them. I spent most of my time practicing my new ability to walk, since Bella wouldn't be there to carry me anymore. I only left the cave to eat, and, with nothing better to do, I went to sleep early. Even then Bella and Lexus hadn't returned to the cave.

Tonight, I experienced no lingering nightmares or memories of my past life. Maybe because I was not stressed today, with Bella and Clyde not bothering me. I had considered saying something to one of them, but I couldn't. If I apologized, then it would mean that they had won the argument, and I wasn't about to let that happen.

I didn't wake up on my own that morning. I felt the jostling of my shoulder that lightly awakened me.

"Ugh… Bella..?" I groggily wondered aloud. "Is that you?"

My vision came completely into focus, and I saw that it was Eli, closer to my face than would be considered comfortable.

"Aah!" I screamed, taken off-guard by his appearance, "What are you doing here?"

"Sshh, it's okay, boy," Eli whispered, trying to calm me down. He pet the top of my head.

"Get off me!" I swatted his hand away. "Sicko…"

"Don't worry," he continued anyway, "we're just going to pay a little visit to the vet, okay?"

"Ugh, you were telling me about this yesterday, weren't you?" I slowly, shakily, stood up. "Fine, let's go."

He seemed to get the message that time. "Okay, come on," he said. He squatted down and grabbed my sides, in an attempt to lift me up.

"What the hell are you doing now?" I asked, feeling more than uncomfortable.

"Rrgh…rrgh… guh!" he groaned, giving up. He wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. "Okay, I'm going to end up with a hernia if I carry you like that."

"You're not seriously that weak," I nearly shouted, disbelief in my voice. "I can't weigh _that_ much."

He slowly reached into his back pocket. "I'm sorry, little guy. You may not like this, but I have to do it."

"What are you doing now?"

In one quick motion, he whipped out a strange object from his pocket and launched it at me faster than I could blink. Too stunned to react, I could only watch as I felt myself disintegrate into hundreds of pieces as it opened, being sucked into it. Everything went white as I was blinded by some sort of red tinted light. I felt the ground shake wildly, three times, to be specific, before it suddenly stopped and I heard a "ding!" noise.

Too late did I recognize that this was a pokeball. When I was able to see again, I saw nothing, just a vast sea of white. I tried to move, to see if there was anything in this blank slate, but hit a curved wall. I felt everything around me, everywhere was the same wall, there was no escape. It didn't take long for me to begin panicking.

"Eeyaah! Let me out here!" I screamed. I punched the wall around me; maybe it would break like my egg did. It didn't. If only I had recognized the ball and struggled sooner, I wouldn't be in here.

"Calm down, calm down!" It was Eli's voice. I could hear him, but I was unable to see him anywhere in this small room. It should have been soft or soothing, but I was too scared to embrace it.

"NO! Please, get me out of here!" I kept hitting the walls, but all I felt was this prison rolling around. There was a sense of weightlessness, the ball being lifted in the air.

"Come on… just give me a few minutes, okay?" He was talking in a whisper, but the voice resonated all around me. "I'll let you out once we're there, okay?"

"I want out… I need to get out…" I quickly tired myself out flailing about so much. I lay down on my curved floor and panted, already exhausted from such meager efforts a side effect of recently being born. Nothing would work, I had decided, so I sat myself down on my curved floor and waited.

I don't know how long it was before I was let out. I assumed it only a few minutes, but it felt much longer. It felt like my mind had been numbed by sitting in there, to the point where I couldn't judge the passing of time. I do know that when I was let out, but when I was, I was disoriented and, as much as I would not like to admit it, scared.

It was a new place. It was a large room overall. Various medical supplies decorated the walls and counters, which were spotlessly clean. I sat on a metal table. It held an icy cold, and forced me to shiver as I materialized onto it. When I moved, it creaked.

There were two men in the room: one was Eli, holding my new, damned pokeball, and the other was one of the people from the night before. He was definitely much older, judging by his height over Eli, his sagging skin and the gray hair emerging from his scalp. I hadn't paid much attention to his features that night, when he took my blood, but I had some sort of sense that it was him. It made me suspect that Eli may have been the other person with him then. Currently, both of them were standing over me cautiously.

"Where am I?" I asked aloud, though I knew there would be know response. "Really, where is this? I have to know, I have to get out!"

"Shush up, kid," it was the older man. "We'll get this over with quickly."

It took me a few more moments to regain my senses. I could think clearly now, clear enough to realize that I was, in fact, in the vet's office. Why I couldn't remember earlier, even after I was told where I was headed, I don't have a clue.

With all of these thought raging in my mind, I was surprised when a thermometer was shoved in my mouth, the cold tip giving me more shivers. I would have made some sort of fuss, but I was too busy silently thanking God that they didn't use the _other_ type of thermometer.

"Okay," the man continued, "we need to check to make sure his skin is hardening."

"What are you talking about?" I managed to say without dropping the thermometer.

Eli walked up to me and raised the knuckle of one of his fingers. He tapped my arm repeatedly, each time with a dull resounding knocking noise.

"Seems good… one more thing." Eli took out a small coin from his pocket. "Let me know if this hurts, okay?"

"You're really starting to scare me."

He took my tiny arm in his free hand and used the other to rub the thin edge of the coin on my skin. It made a scratching noise, but did not hurt at all. He rubbed harder, but still no result. He kept scraping it more fiercely, until it progressed to a feeling of my skin peeling off.

"Gah! It hurts, it hurts!" I shouted out, the thermometer nearly falling from my mouth. I rubbed my other arm against the one he scratched, and it stung somewhat.

"Okay, skin thickness is a check," Eli said. "It's actually seems like it's hardening faster than it normally does for rock types. That's not a bad thing, right?" He sounded nervous.

"On the contrary, that's a good thing. It means his body is developing faster than normal, a sign of an exceptionally healthy pokemon."

"That's good, I guess," I said to nobody in particular. My arm hurt a lot, and I kept my other arm on top of it.

"That's good," said Eli, with no idea he was mimicking my words. The thermometer in my mouth gave a soft _beep_. "Should I check his temperature now?"

The man gave him a look that said, "What do you think?" He repeated the expression in words.

"Don't blame me; I usually don't do the medical examinations." Eli yanked the thermometer off of me. "One hundred and thirty… that's normal for rock types, isn't it?"

"Yes," was the man's blunt answer. "Now we need to check his weight."

"I think I already did that when I tried carrying him here," Eli added, embarrassed.

"Maybe you're just too weak to carry anything more than five pounds," I inputted. Clearly, this wasn't true; I saw him carrying those heavy bags of pokemon food the day before. I still felt the need to make fun of him though, if only to keep my sanity here.

"What? You can't get him up by yourself?" Eli sheepishly nodded. "All right, then. Come on, I'll help you."

They each used one arm to grab my sides and my… underside. They hefted me into the air, struggling, and I could feel their muscles straining to keep hold.

"Seriously?" I asked, sarcastically. "There is absolutely no way both of you are that pathetic."

"Calm down, already! We'll put you down in a moment."

"That's not what I'm complaining about!" I screamed, frustrated that they couldn't even come close to knowing what I said.

They took me a few feet over to the wall making no effort to hide the fact that they were too weak to carry me, where a scale, the kind one would see in a doctor's office, was waiting on the floor. When I was hovering over it, they dropped me onto it. The scale part at the top dipped to the side.

"Ah! Assholes…"

They exhaled in relief. "Okay…" said the unknown man, who itched the back of his head. "Now, just check the scale, Eli."

He panted. "Alright, hang on a minute."

I looked up and saw him fiddling with the slide weights. He moved the biggest weight over just a small amount, but I heard it click into place. I tried to read what it said, but I couldn't. It was written in some foreign writing.

He moved the remaining two sliding weights into various different positions, the scale moving in a corresponding pattern with the weights. Eventually, the scale fell into balance.

"Hmm… One hundred and thirty seven pounds."

"What the hell!" I cried, completely surprised at the result.

"Good, that's normal for a Larvitar."

"How the hell am I that heavy!? I'm barely a foot-and-a-half tall!"

The man wrote something down on his clipboard. "Eli, would you keep him company for a short while? I need to get some of his papers."

"Uh, sure," replied Eli, and the man opened the door and left the room. He stayed silent, I was busy "wondering" how it was at physically possible that I could be so heavy.

"Now, could you please calm down little guy?" said Eli.

"Stop calling me that! I hate that name!"

"Please? I need to show them that I can take care of you, so-"

"Screw you! I'm having a bad enough day already. I don't need you to make it worse!"

With the same speed as when he took out the pokeball, the boy balled his hand into a tight fist and slammed it against my head. I toppled over to my side; it hurt about as intensely as Bella's blows to the head.

"Eyah!" I screamed, holding my head with both arms in pain. "How the hell did you do that without hurting yourself?"

"That was a light hit," he said in a new, threatening tone. "So behave now before I have to really hurt you."

"Argh… God, I hate you even more now."

"That's the spirit." A few moments of awkward silence passed. "So, how are things goin'?" If I had eyebrows, I would have raised one.

"How are things going? What's the point of asking that? What do you think I've been doing?"

"That's nice," he said. It was like talking to a wall.

"Please, just kill me now."

"Fascinating," he said convincingly. Although he was just going along with what he thought I was saying, I couldn't help but chuckle at his misplaced compliment.

"You know, do you really think you can understand me? Because you certainly aren't showing it."

"No, of course not." His eyes widened.

"Good, because… wait, what?"

"Eli?" the man opened the door and came back inside He was holding a folder with a few papers sticking out.. "Could I show you this for a moment?"

"Yeah, sure," was his quick reply. I heard mutter "Thank God" under his breath as he stood up. He rose to his feet and speed-walked to the man. "What do you need?"

"The Larvitar, he… just look at this." He opened the folder and took out a sheet from the stack. I saw a glimpse of what could have been numbers and statistics, but I couldn't tell.

"Hmm… these are his blood results. What's so special about it?"

"Look down here," he said. Eli's eyes rolled down to where the man's finger pointed.

"I don't… oh, I see."

"Exactly. He has absolutely no biotin or cobalamin in his system."

This alerted me. I didn't know what that was supposed to mean, but it sounded serious.

"Well," Eli went on, "is this bad?"

"Sort of. It won't affect his body systems at all, and he'll still grow to be a strong and healthy Larvitar."

"Then what is so wrong with it?"

"Do you know what those two chemicals are?" Eli shook his head. "Those are two chemicals only produced in pokemon. Once a pokemon levels up to a certain level, the chemicals are released everywhere in the body, which causes evolution.

"Think about it. I said 'Larvitar,' not 'Pupitar' or 'Tyranitar." Something clicked in my brain and his point became clear. "The point is, he will still grow and develop, but he will never evolve."

* * *

**Not much else say today.  
**

**-Finalsmasher13**


	8. Revelations

**Wow... seriously, I'm sorry this is so late. I would make some excuse about how I didn't have enough time or wasn't motivated, but honestly, I don't even know what happened. I guess the time just got away from me or something.**

**Oh well, here it is now. Happy Reading!**

_

* * *

_

Chapter Eight: Revelations

_I couldn't evolve._

This was the only thought that I could process. My dreams, crushed by one huge fact. The only thing I had to hope for in this new life, destroyed. They had said it was probably due to some rare genetic disorder, but it didn't matter. There was nothing I could do about it.

It didn't bother me this time when Eli put me back into the pokeball for transport. I didn't care. All I could think about was that one little fact. He had recently let me out in the back of my usual cave and left in a hurry. Bella was there waiting for me.

"So, how'd it go?" she asked in a snide tone, still angered about the day before. I gave her no response. "Aww, are you just tired? Do you need a nappy?"

"Please," I spat out, avoiding her gave, "I'm not in the mood."

She was surprised by the lack of a retorting insult. "What happened?"

"They…they said I couldn't evolve."

"What?" she exclaimed in surprise, "I've never heard of anything like that happening."

"Well, it did. And, of all the pokemon here, to me." And of all the things she could have done, she began to laugh. "What's so funny about that?"

"Oh, nothing," she said, although she clearly meant the opposite. "It's just, since you were born, all you've done is talk down to others and brag about how you're going to become the strongest. And now, it's impossible for you to do that! I just find it fitting that, after what you've been doing, you finally get what's been coming to you."

I was completely shocked. Out of the little time I knew her, Bella had not bluntly mocked anyone before, especially not for an unavoidable condition they have (Clyde's intelligence comes to mind).

"You know, the one time you could actually really help, you just make fun of me."

"And why do you think that is so?"

"I personally think it's because you like seeing me suffer." That was mistake number one. "Since all of this happened, you haven't helped at all! All you've succeeded in is making this new life hell!" Mistake number two.

At the end of that sentence, she quickly reached down, grabbing my head-spike and jerked me up into midair. She held my face in front of her's.

"Let me tell you something," she said in a quiet voice that still managed to be seeping with anger. "First off, no matter how you'd like to think of it, you're still my child. I'm doing everything I can to make sure you can live with your new life, but you just don't want to let me help you. If you just listen to me and at least consider what I say to you, you may not be having such a hard time.

"Second, it's not my fault you don't want to accept your second chance. I'm not the one who's made your life hell; you have. If you want to be pessimistic all the time, go ahead. If you don't want to take my advice, go ahead. Just know that if you don't learn to accept the inevitable, then everything is only going to get worse from now on."

I wanted to escape more than ever at this point, but she held me in that one spot. She was right; I knew it, but I couldn't give her the satisfaction.

"Agh! Can't I just leave?"

"You know I'm right. Why won't you just admit it?" I started squirming in her grip, pushing all my weight against her arm. "That's not going to work," she added.

"Just let me leave!"

"Not until you tell me why you're being so stubborn and asinine to me and everyone else here."

"Rrgh… fine, you wanna know why? I don't see why I need to show respect to you or any of these other pokemon here. You're not my real mother. Clyde isn't my real friend. My real parents are dead. My real friends are gone. Why should I listen to you or anyone else here if you aren't important to me?"

If she was surprised, she didn't show it. If anything, she became less angry, and her voice became softer.

"Is that what you think? Look, I'm sorry about your friends and family, but that doesn't excuse your behavior. If I'm not important to you, I don't care. What I do care about, is how important you are to me.

"No matter what you do, you're still my son. All I want is to make sure you have the best life possible, even if you won't appreciate it. So please; don't blame me for trying to help you. There isn't anyone else to blame but yourself."

All I could say was that I was moved by her words. I had been too stubborn to see her real intentions. But I just couldn't apologize to her. She wasn't my mother, and she never would be. I shouldn't have had any real attachment to her.

So why did I still feel bad not saying anything?

"Ugh… I… can I just have some time to think?" I said. It was the best I could come up with. She sighed.

"Fine." She finally set me back down on the ground. "Take whatever time you need."

I glanced back to her once more, and slowly walked (an action I had practiced and now came easily to me) out of the cave.

It wasn't a faked excuse, like I may have used before. I really had some things to think about. Why did I feel bad saying that to Bella? Without that speech of her's, I probably wouldn't have cared. Still, she opened her heart to me.

But why did I care so much?

* * *

Eli watched the young Larvitar leave the cave, seeming to be deep in thought, a strange thing, he thought, considering the pokemon's age. He slipped out of his spot from behind a large boulder, avoiding any detection, and snuck inside to meet the Tyranitar within.

She took quick notice of the new figure. She smiled, although she was obviously masking her emotions.

"Were you listening, Eli?" was her greeting.

"Yeah," was his response. "I heard everything."

She leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes in a futile attempt to relax. "I just don't get why he's so stubborn. He doesn't want to be kind to anyone, not even himself."

Eli reached the wall and mimicked Bella's action."Yeah, I can tell. Is it all because he's a reborn?"

"That'd be my guess. He's also been talking about his parents more recently. I don't think it's a coincidence."

"How do you figure?"

"You heard him. He said that he shouldn't care about me because I wasn't important to him, like his friends and family. I can't be certain, but maybe his real parents' deaths are why he's like this."

"If his parents were killed, then maybe his parents were reborn as well."

"I don't know. It's possible, but I doubt the legendaries pay attention to every single person that dies. Besides, even if they were, we wouldn't have any idea of how to find them."

"Good point." He stopped for a moment. "Could we find his friends, though?"

"Huh… that would be a lot easier. But how would we find them?"

"The zoo's opening up to the public again tomorrow. Maybe they'll come here?"

Bella cracked an eyelid open and stared at him with a cynical expression "Do you honestly think they're going to come back after their best friend died here?"

Eli smacked himself on the head. "Oh, right. Stupid thinking, I guess. We're probably lucky that they're not even suing us."

"Uh-huh." She sighed. "I really hate seeing Grant like this. Even if he doesn't think so, he's my little child. I want the best for him."

"Is there anything you can do that would make him happy?"

Bella paused to think. "Well, it's impossible for him to evolve, so that's out of the question. The only other thing I can think of now is getting him out of this zoo."

"…I don't know… I mean, we can't just take him out."

"Why not?"

"Well, for starters, this place is under constant surveillance. Especially after his little incident a few days ago, they've been stepping up on security. And if we just use force, the staff here has trained to be able to stop anything from getting away. Plus, they'd fire me for helping, which I just can't let happen."

Bella rubbed her temples, exasperated. "You're sure there isn't anything we can do?"

Eli had to stop to think. It was about a full minute before he responded. "Hmm… there's something that _could _work… but it completely relies on the gullibility of my boss here."

"If there's any kind of choice, we need to try it."

"But it's not just that. If this is going to work, we'll also need to take you and Clyde out of here as well."

"Huh? Why?"

"You, because I'll have to say he can't go without his mother to support him, since he's still too young, which is partially true." Bella blushed, as far as a Tyranitar can. "And Clyde… well, I can't leave my own partner here on his own, can I?"

"Okay, I get all of that. Is there anything else?"

"Not that I can think of right now… but I need to make some calls, first. I need to let my boss approve of this."

"Um… didn't you just say we _can't_ let your boss know?"

"I mean my real boss."

Her eyes widened in realization. "Oh… I get it now. Could you inform me on the details?"

"I will. But first I need to at least make sure this is possible before I tell you."

"And by that you mean…?"

"Like I said, I need to make a few calls first." Eli patted Bella on the back. "Besides; if this works, I have something else important that you and Grant could really help me with. Consider it a favor in return for this." He started walking out of the cave.

"Wait!" she called. Eli stopped walking. "Just one more question."

"Out of the hundred some questions you've already asked?" They both chuckled for a second. "Shoot."

"Don't you think we should tell him you can understand pokemon?"

Eli fully turned around at the question. "You know better than anyone else that I can't do that. The less everybody knows, humans and pokemon alike, the better. Besides, it's a mistake that even you know about me."

Bella let her memories play before her as she recalled her own discovery of Eli's secret. "Heh heh," she laughed, "you certainly weren't too good at hiding it then."

"Yep. I slipped up a little earlier, too. Make sure Grant doesn't ask anything about it, okay? He may start to get suspicious. I don't know how observant he is."

"Don't worry. I'll be sure to keep him out of the loop."

"Good; I know I can trust you." He turned around once more. "See ya later, Bella."

"You too, Eli." And with that, the old teenager was gone.

Bella slumped to the floor, and glanced at the clock. Twelve-thirty.

_Great,_ she thought. _The day isn't even that far in and I'm already exhausted._

* * *

_Great, _thought Tobias. _The day isn't even that far in and I'm already exhausted._

Tobias was tired, and for good reason. He woke up early and visited Samantha's house, early enough to see her parents before they left to go to their respective jobs. He did this to talk to them about Sam leaving to go to Sinnoh with him. At first, they had agreed with a solid "no."

Tobias had prepared well for this. He explained to them that he was more than ready to take care of her at all times. He showed them the boat tickets he had already bought, accompanying them with an explanation that he was capable of showing initiative and responsibility by using his own money to buy the two tickets. He also said that he had accumulated enough money over the years to support them for a few months alone, and with the money they would receive from battling, they would be set for more than an entire year. In truth, he had very little money of his own, and stole some cash from his parents.

After that, they were still unconvinced. Tobias went on, saying that Sam had already been planning on leaving for a journey in the near future, so why couldn't she come now? Samantha's parents' response was that after Reese's death, they believed she may have felt uncomfortable leaving everything behind her. Tobias argued this using the opposite reason: because of Reese's death, she probably felt uncomfortable staying there and having all of the pain kept close. Both of these arguments put a large dent in their reasoning.

They may have said yes then, but Tobias wanted to cement the deal in. First, he showed them a specially ordered PokeNav, which he specifically imported from Hoenn so they could call her whenever they wanted when Samantha was in Sinnoh (or so he told them). Truthfully, it was the PokeNav that Tobias's parents had given him for his fifteenth birthday. Of course, Sam's parents never knew he had his own PokeNav, so they bought the story easily.

Ultimately, the parents said that they would think about it, since they had to leave for work. Tobias and Sam were thoroughly convinced though that they would say yes.

And thus, Tobias was exhausted. Currently he lay on the couch in Sam's house (he fell asleep there after Sam's parents left, tired from waking so early) with Synth sprawled out on his stomach, watching a show on the television that he didn't know of and wasn't entirely paying attention to.

Samantha was sitting in the little space left on the couch that Tobias didn't occupy, leaning her elbow on the arm of the couch and leaning her head against her fist. Totodile sat in her lap, spacing out, and Lea sat at the top of the couch

"I have a question, Tobias," Samantha began to say, finally starting a conversation after a long while of silence. "Could today get much more boring?"

"Possibly," Tobias said, "we could be watching the golf channel."

"Well putt." Sam didn't even laugh at her own pun. Dismissing it, she stood up, placing Totodile on the ground and startling him out of his stupor. "Let's go do something."

"Like what?"

"Does it matter? It's a great day outside, I don't wanna waste it."

"Alright, fine." Tobias flung himself up from the couch, carrying Synth in his arms. "Let's go."

Signaling Totodile and Lea to follow, (Lea jumped up and climbed onto Samantha's head), the total group of five went outside into the warm sunlight, shielding their eyes with their hands from the brightness. They walked a ways down the street, with no better goal in mind.

"So… got any ideas?" Sam asked, determined to find some activity to do.

"Let me think…" he stayed quiet as they walked a few more feet farther. "Um… oh, I know. When was the last time we had a battle?"

Sam's and Lea's ears perked up, and if Totodile and Synth had ears, they would have done the same.

"You want to have a battle? I guess it has been a while since we've done that." She plucked Lea off of her head and set him on the ground. "How 'bout it? You guys wanna do a battle?"

"That sounds fun!" Lea chirped up.

"As long as it gets rid of all the boredom here, I'm fine with it," Synth added, though he sounded rather passive.

Totodile, as opposed to them, remained silent. He didn't even offer a word of response to complete the unanimous opinion. Instead, he trudged along with everyone, not bothering to even try to have fun. Everyone noticed this.

"Aw, come on Totodile," Sam cooed, "you don't wanna battle today?" Ever so slightly, he shook his head no. "Alright, well you can watch, then. Come on, Tobes, let's find a place to start this."

"Sure." The group walked a bit further until they found a large, open area to the side of the street, a perfect battlefield. They quickly readied themselves; Sam and Tobias stood at a satisfying distance apart, with Totodile standing by Sam's leg. They quickly sent Lea and Synth out in front of them, each eager to start the fight.

"Are you ready?" Tobias said from across the field.

"Perfectly."

"Alright, let's start this. Synth, start it off with Razor Leaf!" Synth, immediately taking action, twirled the two leaves on its head, sending various sharp leaves speeding in front of him.

"Use Ember, Lea!"

Lea opened his mouth wide and let loose a torrent of small flames. Every leaf in their path burned to nothingness.

"Run up and use Bite!"

Synth started dashing forward, his jaws snapping open and shut violently.

"Easy, just use Ember again!"

Again, Lea shot out a barrage of tiny embers from his mouth, aimed at the (oddly) speeding turtle.

"Use Withdraw!" Keeping up the speed, Synth drew all his limbs and head into his shell. With his impressive momentum (at least for his species), Synth slid through the incoming embers.

"What the- I've never seen anything like that!" Sam exclaimed.

"Now, use Tackle!" The Turtwig completely emerged from its shell and slammed its entire body into Lea. He flew backwards a few feet.

"This time use Bite!" instructed Tobias.

"Quick, dodge it!" Samantha shouted.

Synth lurched at Lea, jaws agape. At the last second, Lea rolled out of the way and, without instruction to do so shot an Ember at him. It obviously hurt more than usual and caused Synth to slide backwards.

"Awesome, Lea! Now use Flame Wheel!"

The small Fire Monkey pokemon released a jet of flame from its mouth that somehow wrapped itself around his own body. The oversized fireball that was Lea dashed forward and rammed into Synth's body. He let out a yelp of harsh pain and flew back even further.

"Not good…" Tobias whispered to himself. "Try to heal with Synthesis!"

Synth closed his eyes and relaxed, allowing the Sun's energy to flow through him as a yellow aura formed on his body. The fiery wounds began to disappear.

"No! Use Ember again, Lea!" He let out the familiar flames once again.

"Stop the technique and dodge, quickly!" The glowing aura around Synth abruptly ceased and he ran to the side, out of the Ember's path. "Use Absorb, Synth!"

The glow returned to him, this time surrounding both him and Lea. Tiny green orbs flew from Lea to Synth, though it didn't hurt Lea much and didn't heal Synth much.

"Rrgh, this is taking too long." Sam commented. "Let's try a Flame Wheel again!"

Lea surrounded himself in a cloak of fire and dashed towards Synth, intending to end the battle there.

"Dodge, and use Razor Leaf!" Synth again jumped out of the way of Lea's attack. Once the surrounding fire subsided, he shot another barrage of sharp-edged leaves at Lea. The leaves didn't hurt him much, but did leave various cuts all over his body.

"Now that you're close, use Fury Swipes!"

"Don't stop! Keep using Razor Leaf!" Lea jumped forward, digging his claws into Synth's skin. It left deep gashes in the turtle's skin, but not as deep as the ones from the close up Razor Leaves. Soon, Tobias's goal was clear to Sam: to wear down Lea until he was weak enough and finish him off. So far, it had been working.

"C'mon! Stop him with another Ember!"

Lea, exhausted as he was, mustered up the strength to shoot a point-blank Ember attack at Synth. It cut off his flow of Razor Leaves and left him sprawled on the ground. He lay still for a few moments, but judging by his weak attempt to get up, he still wasn't ready to give up.

"Oh… come on, already!" Lea panted out. "Just… give up!"

"No… I… won't…" Synth panted out as well. "I won't lose… in front… of Tobias…"

"You really are… persistent, aren't you?"

"Can't… lose…"

"Let's end this! Just one more Ember attack!" Samantha called out.

"Sorry… about this, buddy." Lea gathered the balls of fire in his mouth.

"No… I won't… take this!" Synth suddenly jumped up, new energy coursing through him. He began to shimmer and glow white.

Lea was so surprised, the flames died out before he managed to spit them out.

Synth's white silhouette more than doubled in size. The appendage that held the two leaves on his head, as well as the leaves themselves, melted into his head. Two large bushes emerged from his back, while two small spikes jutted out from his cheeks and his tail lengthened by a few inches.

Soon, the white glow faded away. As they could now be seen clearly, the two bushes on his back were lush and a pure, deep green. The shell was virtually gone; only the top of it rested on his back, and on his legs, new claws protruded from the bottom of his feet.

Standing with a renewed vigor stood Synth, evolved into a Grotle.

"S-Synth, y-you evolved!" Tobias stammered out. "Awesome! I'm so proud of you!"

"Yeah! Great job, Synth!" Samantha cheered from her side.

"Wow… you did great!" Lea commended his own enemy.

"Thank you, Lea," Synth replied. A stupid grin quickly manifested itself on his face. "Of course, you know this means you're in deep trouble, right?"

"What do you… oh crap."

"Alright, let's keep this going!" Tobias shouted. "Use Tackle!"

"No hard feelings later, okay?" Synth asked.

"Nah, I'll be fine," Lea said.

"Awesome." Synth slammed his new body against Lea, sending him flying backwards even without any momentum.

"Use Ember, Lea!" As he meant to before, Lea gathered the flames in his mouth and spat them out at Synth.

"Now, Razor Leaf!"

From the small bushes on his back, a storm of sharp leaves, more than he had ever been able to shoot at once before, flew towards Lea. Most of them managed to slice clean through the Ember attack, and land hard on his body. Lea was shot back even farther, and with all the pain amounted, didn't get back up.

"Alright!" Tobias cried, "We won! Great job Synth!" He ran onto the battlefield and knelt down to hug his newly evolved pokemon. He pet Synth on the back, saying various other words of praise. Synth smiled and laughed along with him.

Samantha dashed into the field as well, lifting Lea off the ground. He was in bad shape; too many cuts to count adorned his body, and many of them were bleeding. It wasn't extremely serious, nothing a Potion or two (or three) couldn't heal. Still, he was too tired to open his eyes more than slightly.

"Sam…" he groaned, "I tried… sorry… I lost…"

"You did great, Lea. You can take a nice rest when we get home."

"…Thanks…" and he closed his eyes.

Tobias was still petting Synth, praising him on a job well done. Sam walked over to him, Totodile, who had paid deep attention to the battle, following behind her.

"Well, I certainly wasn't expecting this to happen," Sam said patting Synth on the back herself, being careful not to drop Lea.

"Definitely," Tobias replied. "I guess this was a good way to spend the day."

"Yeah. I think we're all exhausted now. Let's go back to my house."

"Sure. Synth, do you feel good enough to walk?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," the new Grotle said.

Tobias understood the message. "Good, let's go." The group began walking back in the direction they came from.

Totodile had remained silent the entire time, and was he no different now. In place of speech, though, he was deep in thought. Even when Lea lost the battle, he was still told he did well. He tried his best, and even though he failed, Samantha recognized his efforts.

Reese never did that. No matter how hard he tried, if Totodile didn't win a battle, then it wouldn't have been good enough in his eyes. The concepts seemed new to him, and didn't make entire sense. All that Totodile could know for sure was that he had someone who would really care for him now, so eventually he would get it.

But there was still one nagging voice in the back of Totodile's mind, and it scared him to think about it:

_If you didn't kill him, you wouldn't be with Samantha. You wouldn't have real friends if you didn't. You killed your trainer, and your life will be better now._

_Why am I thinking this? _Totodile thought._ Am I… glad he's dead? Did I hate him that much?_

He held his head as he walked, all his conflicting thoughts causing a massive headache. He just wanted it all to end; no; he wanted it to never have happened in the first place.

_If only we just didn't go to the beach that day…_

* * *

**So, how many questions do you have now? If the answer is "a lot," then I have succeeded.**

**I felt it's been too long without a battle, especially for a Pokemon story, so I thought I'd put one in here. By the way, if any of think think Synth may have evolved too early:**

**Think about it. Reese got Totodile when he was about nine years old. This is also when everyone else got their starters, even if it was before their official journey began. So I'm sure they would have battled and trained a lot during the five years since then.**

**-Finalsmasher13**


	9. A Perspective of Agony

**Wow... I think this is the longest chapter I've ever written. Nearly 6000 words in length, excluding these Author's Notes. I didn't know I had it in me.**

**By the way, you may need to reread Chapter 4 to fully understand the beginning of this.  
**

* * *

Chapter Nine: A Perspective of Agony

"_Good. Now, I have something for both of you."_

"_Really?" they asked, practically at the same time. "What is it?_

_The man unballed his fists, palms facing upward, to reveal a small, flat, triangular object in each hand. The top of the object was a deep black color, while the rest of it was smooth and gray. The edges looked too sharp to touch without caution._

"_Cool!" said Reese, and zoomed closer to get a better look. Reese's sister, Alicia, drew closer as well, her Chingling still sitting atop her head and observing as well. "What are they?"_

"_These are Sharpedo teeth," his father said, sounding rather matter-of-factly, "Sharpedo are rare pokemon to find here, so I guess I got lucky finding them."_

"_And you're showing us these because…?" Reese's sister, Alicia, spoke up this time._

"_They're for you. Why else?"_

"_Really?" Reese snatched the larger of the two teeth from his father's hand, nearly cutting himself on the edge, admiring it with fascinated eyes. It was like nothing he had ever seen before._

"_These are cool, I guess," Alicia said, taking her own. "Thanks, dad."_

"_You're welcome. And Reese-" he began, but the child was already gone._

"_Totodile, look at this!" Reese said, excitedly shoving the tooth into Totodile's face. The pokemon stared inquisitively at it, not actually caring about it. But, to make his trainer happy, he smiled and gave a small yelp of approval._

_With a smile, his father waded back into the water, his wife waiting for him._

_Alicia walked up to her little brother, holding her tooth in her hand. "Hey Reese, as long as you're not gonna go swimming, can you hold on to this for me?"_

"_Um, sure." She dropped it into his palm._

"_Good. I'll be in the water for a little while, so see ya." She began to walk away, but suddenly stopped. "Oh, and by the way, do you know when we're going to be leaving?"_

"_Mom said the ferry was coming to get us at three o'clock."_

"_So we have another hour; good. Alright, come on, Chime!" She swiveled her body around and took off toward the ocean, Chime barely clutching onto her head._

_Reese smiled, and lay down on the big towel set on top of the sand for him. Totodile did the same, taking a position on top his belly. Reese smiled and pet the small gator on its head, filling up the time by repeating the motion. With his free hand, he held his Sharpedo tooth, observing it more closely than he had before. It was heavily scratched, with a slight gash down the middle._

_Reese placed it on the towel and picked up Alicia's tooth. It was completely smooth, no ridges, nicks, or chips in it at all. He wondered how it was possible that his was so damaged, yet her's was completely intact._

_Time passed slowly, the slight movement of the sun recording the passing moments, the various sights that could have been used for postcards filling Reese's vision: the splashing of the water, the sun high above the sand of the beach, making the water sparkle with white specks of light, the waves gently caressing the sand of the beach, the faint, blinking red glow emanating from the water…_

Wait,_ Reese thought. _What is that?

_The peculiar light was located farther out in the water, farther than where his family was having fun without him. Nobody else seemed to notice it. It seemed to call to him; he had to find out what it was. He shook Totodile off of his lap, stood up and stretched his arms._

"_Totodile, let's go," he said. Without even getting a chance to question what Reese was talking about, the small gator was dragged into the water._

_Due to living on the Sevii Islands, Reese was naturally a talented swimmer. As soon as the water became too deep to stand in, he dived forward and swam ahead at an impressive pace, Totodile following just as easily in suit. They passed Alicia, whose attention was piqued by the unusually frantic swimming of her brother._

"_Reese, what are you doing?" she called out._

_Not bothering even to stop, Reese replied, "Come with me, I'll show you something!"_

_Shrugging to herself, Alicia headed after him, going at a slower speed to make sure Chime would not fall off of her head. In a short time, Reese, Alicia, Totodile, and Chime had all made it to the source of the light._

_The water they floated in blinked repeatedly every few seconds. Both children were amazed and intrigued by it._

"_Hmm… what do you think it is?" Reese wondered._

"_It's underwater, so why don't we just look?" Alicia proposed, with a sarcastic tone._

"_Uh, sure." Chime moved to sit on Totodile's head while Reese and Alicia gathered air into their lungs and dove underwater._

_Through practice, both children had learned to be able to open their eyes in water, even salty water, like that which they were in now. What they saw amazed them._

_On the ocean floor was a huge collection of flashing lights. Large, red orbs were scattered all over the ground, each one emanating with a bright red siren-like flash. It lit up everything around them; Magikarp and Horsea and many other aquatic pokemon illuminated by the glow._

_Reese felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned around to see Alicia motioning with her hands to swim down lower and see what the mysterious ruby-like jewels were. They both did so._

_The gems were deeper than they had thought. It took only a few seconds to sink down far enough, but with a limited air supply, a few seconds is a lot of time to waste._

_At a closer view, it was easier to observe the gems. They felt them and discovered that, in fact, they were not gems at all. They were soft, and seemed hollow on the inside. Each one was separated by a light blue layer of some other kind of unidentifiable material. Reese and Alicia continued to look at the objects, when it happened._

_The lights radiating from the orbs began to intensify. The flashes blinked in and out faster and faster, until it became one continuous blood-red light. Everything in the childrens' sight was red; the water had turned red, the swimming pokemon, who had begun to swim quickly away, became outlined in red. The only break from the overpowering color was the spots between the orbs, a contrasting light blue. They originally thought this strange color was a part of the ocean floor. But there was something wrong with that theory._

_The ocean floor was moving._

_

* * *

_

I blinked, and woke up.

I first noticed that I was outside, not in the usual cave. It was nighttime, and the stars were easily visible in the black and blue evening sky. A soft, warm breeze blew across the enclosure.

"I must have fallen asleep out here," I said to myself. I sat up. "Man, I don't get it. Why do I keep having these dreams?"

"Beats me."

"Gyah!" I yelped, and jumped higher than I thought I could. I turned around, heart pounding against my chest, to see the always familiar Diglett popped up from the ground.

"Clyde? Damn, you scared the crap out of me."

"That's nice…" his head was drooped low.

"Why are you awake, anyway?"

"I had trouble sleeping," he briefly explained.

"Oh." I put a hand on my head. "What do you want?"

"You… before, you said that I was annoying and stupid." His already high voice cracked. "I wanted to show you that I'm not annoying and stupid..."

I sighed. "Well, scaring me as soon as I wake up isn't really helping that."

"Oh, um, uh… s-sorry..."

"Don't say sorry, just don't do it."

"Well, you said that I did something wrong…"

"No I didn't."

"Does that mean I did something else wrong? I'm sorry, I-"

"Okay, just shut up for a second!" His invisible mouth immediately shut. "Now, what are you trying to say?"

"I… I wanna be your friend…" he admitted. "I don't have many other friends…"

I sighed. "Clyde, I honestly don't understand you. You try to 'help' everyone, yet you do it in the worst ways possible. Just… just think about what you're about to do, okay?"

"I-I'll try… is there anything I can do to help now?"

"Help with what?"

"I heard you talking in your sleep a minute ago. You were saying stuff about Sharpedo teeth and weird lights."

I remembered the dream I had been having, my mind having been snapped out of the attention of it earlier.

"It's just personal stuff," I told him.

"From when you were human?"

"What the- how did you know about that!?" I cried, taken aback. "I never told you, and nobody else knows!"

"Nobody else knew," he corrected. I grunted at him. "Bella told me."

"Oh, right, of course she did," I said, though I meant to keep it in my head. "She just can't keep a secret, can she?"

"She told me I'd be able to help you if I knew."

"Help me with what, pray tell?"

"To adjust," he bluntly stated. "You haven't learned how to live like a pokemon yet."

I sighed. "Of course I haven't! I had ambitions, I was going to be a trainer and win the Pokemon League challenge. Now I'm just a tool for other people to use so they can do just that. Do you think I'm ever going to 'adjust'?" I put air quotes around the word "adjust."

"Well, if you don't, then you'll never have any fun!"

"…Fun?" I sneered. "I don't want to have fun."

"Sure you do!" He exclaimed. "In fact, I know a song about it that will help!" He took a deep breath.

_Oh God,_ I thought. _He's not seriously going to-_

"F is for friends who do stuff together, U is for you and meeee-"

"I swear, if you keep singing, I will see to it that you are violently stabbed repeatedly in the eyes."

"Aww… but I didn't even get to the part with the Pichu and the ukelele."

"Um, there isn't anything about a Pichu in that song."

"…Nevermind. Seriously though," I laughed in my mind about how seriousness could ever describe Clyde, "you'll have to get used to this eventually, 'cuz you're not going back."

"You think I don't know that? It doesn't matter if I get used to it or not. Nothing is ever going to be the same again. I just… ugh, I shouldn't have gotten into this mess in the first place."

"Maybe if you didn't go and get yourself killed, then…" I shot him a menacing glare. "Sorry."

"It's not my fault, anyway," I began to explain. "My pokemon that I had before betrayed me and let me die."

"Oh. Well that wasn't very nice."

"Understatement of the year."

"Yeah… I'm tired. I'll be going to sleep now."

"I thought you just said you couldn't sleep."

"But now that I know we're friends, I'll be better!"

My eyes widened. "But… ah, screw it, you'll keep pestering me anyway. Fine, we're friends."

His eyes lit up. "Yay! Good-night, Grant!" With an energy that would have allowed him to jump out of the ground itself, he shot underneath it.

I lay back down on my stomach and closed my eyes. "What did I just do?" I said to myself. I stayed there for a few minutes, trying to get back to sleep. Unfortunately, there was a small whisper beneath me keeping me from doing just that:

"F is for frolic, through all the flowers, U is for u-ke-leeee-le…"

I wasn't going to get beck to sleep easily.

* * *

The sunlight bled through the window of Samantha's bedroom, waking her from sleep. She stretched, let out a soft groan, and checked her bedside clock. Nine-twenty three.

_Good, _she thought. _I still have plenty of time to meet Tobias._

Sam gently lifted the covers and stood up off of her bed, brushing her long, sleep-disheveled hair out of her face. Lea and Totodile were sleeping on the floor by her bed, snoring loudly. She nudged them with her foot, causing them to open their eyes.

"Huh… it's morning already?" Lea asked.

"You guys ready?" Sam said. "We're finally gonna be leaving today!"

"What? Already?" He jumped up

"Alright, now get out." She knelt down and started pushing the two out of her room, which fully awakened them.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Lea asked.

Not knowing she was answering his question, Samantha said, "I need to get dressed, and I'm not letting you see that."

"Ugh, it's not like I want to."

She finished pushing them out the doorway and closed the door, locking it as it closed. Lea stood up and stretched his own limbs.

"So, are you ready for this, Totodile?" Lea said. "We're gonna be on a boat to Sinnoh by the end of the day!"

Totodile stayed silent, though he was fully awake.

"Dang, you've been such a zombie the past few days. Lighten up, already."

"I don't feel like it."

Lea sighed. "Come on! I mean, you've barely said anything since two days ago. I know you're still upset about what happened, but you have to move on."

"You don't get it. Reese wasn't always a bad trainer. I don't want to forget that, no matter what he was like recently."

Not bothering to try and break Totodile's logic, he decided to change the subject.

"Let's just go downstairs. I'll get you a soda or something."

"Whatever."

They walked through the small hallway outside of Sam's room, down the stairs, and into the kitchen. Lea jumped up to grab the refrigerator's handle and pulled it open. He took two cans of generic soda and closed the door, tossing a can to Totodile, who barely caught it. They then headed to the living room couch, where Samantha's parents were sitting and watching the morning news. Lea sat down and popped open his soda, taking a large sip of it.

All the while, Sam's father stared inquisitively at his daughter's pokemon.

"You know, you are one strange pokemon, Lea," he said.

"Thank you. I take deep pride in that," Lea replied.

With nothing else to do, everyone sat and watched the news, though nothing exciting was being reported. It probably lasted about ten minutes before something actually happened.

"Hey, everyone!" Sam exclaimed as she walked into the living room.

She had put on a plain white T-shirt with loose-fitting blue jeans. On one wrist was a simple, pink digital watch, and on the other was a pink wristband. Her hair was left long, and it rested on a tan backpack slung over her shoulder.

"You look great, Sam!" Her mother said, marveling her attire.

She smiled. "Thanks, Mom," she said. "What do you think, Dad?"

He examined her outfit carefully. "I don't know… are you really going to Sinnoh in that? You know how cold it is there, right?"

"Oh, relax. It's still summer, and besides, I have some warmer stuff packed up in here." She patted her backpack.

"Well… alright then, just be careful out there. I don't want my daughter getting hurt out there."

"Oh, I'll be fine. Don't worry about me."

"That's easier said than done, honey." He stood up and gave her a hug. "It's hard to know you're safe when you're so many miles away from home."

"I'll be fine," she repeated. "I've got Lea and Totodile to protect me if I get into trouble. Isn't that right?" She glanced down at her two pokemon.

"Yeah, what she said." Lea dropped his empty soda can on the floor. "I'll make sure she doesn't get herself killed."

Totodile groaned audibly.

"Oh, uh… sorry. Bad word choice."

Sam's mother stood up. "And you have everything you need, right? Pokeballs, Potions, first-aid stuff, extra clothes, money-"

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, and Tobias has it all."

"Okay then. Just making sure." She hugged Sam as well. "We love you, Sam. Take care of yourself, okay?"

"I love you too, and I will." She said her final goodbyes to her family. "Lea, Totodile, come on. It's time to leave."

"Woo! Finally!" Lea impatiently jumped up and climbed onto Sam's shoulder, making her chuckle. Totodile jumped off the couch and followed Sam and Lea to the doorway, where everyone was headed.

"Bye Mom, bye dad!" Sam said as she walked out of the house.

"Bye, Sam! Have fun out there!" Her parents said at practically the same time. With that, she closed the door, leaving her home for good.

Sam took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Alright, we just have one more thing to do before we leave for Sinnoh," she said. "We're gonna stop at the zoo again before we leave, okay?"

Both pokemon nodded in affirmation, but Totodile shivered nervously.

* * *

An hour later, Tobias and Sam stood in the waiting line to enter the newly reopened zoo.

Synth, Lea and Totodile were all outside of their pokeballs. Lea was still attached to Sam's shoulder, while Totodile and Synth walked behind them.

"So," Tobias began, "you're seriously going to Sinnoh in that?"

"You sound like my dad," Sam replied with a groan, "Besides, you're not so much better yourself."

Tobias wore a black short-sleeved shirt with the "Poketopia Outfitters" logo on it. As well as Sam, he wore loosely fitting blue jeans with a black belt and a holster for his PokeNav hanging from his waist. His backpack was black and looked more like a school bag than one meant for traveling.

"You have a point there," Tobias said, looking at his own clothes. "You just make sure you're able to stay warm there, okay?"

"Whatever. Look, we're at the front."

Tobias turned around again and realized he was at the ticket counter.

"How many?" the man running the counter said, sounding somewhat bored.

"Two tickets, please," Tobias said.

"Wait," Sam interjected. She dug her hand into her pocket and pulled out her own ticket stub. She showed it to the worker. "Season Pass."

"One moment." He took the stub and ran it under a scanner on the counter. The scanner beeped and he gave it back to Sam. "Okay, it's valid."

"So… one ticket, then." Tobias reached into his pocket to take out a thick wallet.

"Twenty-five dollars, please." Tobias opened his wallet, pulled out a twenty and a five bill, and handed it to the man. He quickly gave back a small ticket in return.

"Are you taking those pokemon in with you, or will they be in their balls?"

"We were planning on keeping them out," Sam said. "Why?"

The man picked up a sheet of stickers and tore off a strip of three stickers, handing it to Tobias.

"What are these?" He asked.

"It's a new rule. Any pokemon that don't belong to the zoo have to wear them."

"We didn't have to do that before."

"Ma'am," the man started to get agitated with all the questions, "Because of some recent events, we're trying to step up safety and security a bit more."

"Oh…" Sam said, dipping her head down, knowing exactly what he was talking about.

"Come on, Sam," Tobias said, grabbing Sam's wrist and pulling her with him. "Thank you, sir." The man offered no response and went on talking to the next customer.

Everyone stopped at the main gate. Tobias took the stickers, placing one on Synth's leg, another on Lea's arm, and the third on Totodile's arm.

"Wow, these look stupid," he commented, throwing the leftover paper in a nearby trash can. "I hope they're easy to get off."

"Yeah sure, whatever," Sam babbled impatiently. "Come on, let's go."

They walked further, showed another worker their tickets, had them approved, and walked into the crowded zoo.

"So, where did you want to go again?" Tobias inquired.

"The Rock and Ground section. That's where the new pokemon was supposed to have hatched."

"Alright, just give me a second." Tobias observed the directory sign behind him and traced his finger across the path to the exhibit, making a mental note of how to get there.

"Okay, let's go."

They started walking again in a new direction. Of course, they all made sure to avert their eyes from a particular grassy spot near the edge of the nearby cliff with a large fence around it.

* * *

As a human, I had been woken up by an alarm clock, my older sister, my parents, Totodile, and myself. Since I had been reborn, I had been woken up by Bella, Clyde, and again, myself.

Never before had I awoken to the annoying, squeaky sound of a little kid saying:

"Aww, he's so cuuute!"

I opened my eyes slowly, wondering what the new noise was. I rolled over and saw a little girl staring back at me.

"Uh… hi?" I said, feeling awkward.

"Mommy, he's awake!" she said, tugging at her apparent mother's shirt.

"Really? Never would've guessed," I replied.

The girl smiled, and in a few seconds she and her mother walked away. I rubbed my eyes and finally took notice of all everything around me. People were crowding everywhere outside of the enclosure, most of them being young children. They were all either walking around the place, observing the pokemon, or, more specifically, gawking at me.

Mostly because I was apparently "cute."

"What the hell is everyone doing here?"

"Gooood morning!" I turned around and Clyde was there, talking in his usual sing-song voice.

"Clyde, what are all these people here for?"

"I would think it's obvious," he said. "The place opened back up today."

"What!" I shouted. "Why didn't anyone tell me?"

"Why didn't you ask?"

I grunted at him. "Whatever. I'm gonna go find Bella. I'll see if I can get away from these people."

"Good luck. You're not gonna find her, though."

I turned around. "What are you talking about?"

"She's gone." I stared at him inquisitively. "I don't know what happened. She was here last night, but I didn't see her anywhere this morning."

"Hunh… that's weird. Of course, I don't exactly comprehend how you could lose a seven-foot tall rock behemoth…" I rolled my eyes. "But I digress." I turned around again and began to walk away. "Come get me when everyone leaves, Clyde," I yelled back.

"That's probably going to be about a ten hour wait," he said.

"Yes, I know, Clyde," I said back to him, and left.

I quickly reached my usual cave and plopped down on the ground. Clyde was right; Bella wasn't here. It was strange, but I decided not to think about it for now. I glanced at the clock.

"Eleven," I said to myself. "I'm not going to last the entire day."

I laid my head down again to try and sleep more (like I haven't done enough of that already). I couldn't see any of the people outside, but it was impossible not to hear them. Frequently there was a kid crying or someone admiring the other pokemon much more loudly than they needed to that kept me awake.

"Ugh, now I remember why I always hated coming here."

I was able to rest for a satisfying whole five minutes before I was interrupted again. By who?

"Grant, Grant! There's something cool I wanna show you!" Clyde shouted frantically.

Were you really that surprised?

"Has everyone left yet, Clyde?" I asked irritably.

"No, but there's-"

"I told you to tell me when everyone leaves. Let me be until then, okay?"

"But I wanted to show you something cool!"

"Will you leave if I say no?"

"No!"

I groaned, and stood up. "Ugh, fine, what do you want?"

"Come here!" I followed him outside into a wide, empty spot where no other pokemon were. There was nothing there, only dirt.

"I don't see anything," I said disappointingly.

"I know! Watch this!"

He disappeared under the ground, leaving the hole there this time. He again popped up a centimeter away from the last hole and promptly shot back underground, again leaving the hole. He continued doing this until the leftover holes in the ground formed a big circle. He then appeared inside the circle and repeated the process. He made two smaller circles in the top right and top left parts of the large shape, and then made a wide half-circle below both of them. Once he was done, he reappeared at my side.

"So, what do think?" He said, bouncing up and down.

I looked at it for a minute and quickly figured it out.

"…A smiley face, Clyde?" I asked, annoyed that I was taken away for that. "Just… why?"

"Because it's neat!" He nearly shouted, oblivious to my own opinion.

"Clyde... has anyone ever told you that you are special?"

"Why yes, a lot of people have. They've also said my head is really dense! That's good, right?"

"Right," I snickered. At least his stupidity was something I could toy with. I turned around to leave again when something caught my eye in the distance.

They were the people walking toward the enclosure. There were two people, a boy and a girl, both teenagers. Walking beside them was what I knew were pokemon, but I couldn't tell what kinds. One was red, one was blue, and there was a larger one of green. As they walked closer, their features became more distinct, and they looked familiar.

"There's no way," I said to myself. I started walking toward the fence separating the area from the rest of the zoo.

"Wait, I thought you said you were going to try and get away from the people here," Clyde reminded me as I started walking.

"Don't worry about me. Go… play with that Geodude over there." I pointed to a Geodude on the other side of the enclosure.

"Oooh! Okay, bye!" Without a second thought, he left.

I kept walking to the fence, determined to be sure of what I thought. The pokemon became more clear. They were a Grotle, Chimchar, and… a Totodile? No, my Totodile.

I got close enough to be sure, and I was right.

"There you are, little guy," Sam said, leaning over the short fence. "I never got to see you the other day."

"Sam? Tobias?" I shouted. 'Surprised' doesn't begin to explain how I felt seeing them.

"I can't believe he can already walk," Tobias said, looking down at me. "I thought it took at least a week for them to learn to walk."

"I'm not that stupid, Tobias," I said, still astounded.

"Hey, kid," the Chimchar said while picking at some sort of sticker on his arm, "how do you know my trainer's name?"

"And mine, too," the Grotle added.

"Because I recognize all of you! He's Tobias, she's Samantha, you're Lea, He's… Synth, I think, and he's Totodile!"

All three of them put on a questioning expression, and stared at me.

"How do you know all of that?" Totodile asked, sounding skeptical.

"It's me, Totodile! I'm Reese!" His eyes went wide. "You remember-"

He slammed his fists on the fence, interrupting me.

"Listen, kid," he viciously said, "I don't know how you know about us and my trainer, but don't talk about him. I don't need to be reminded of him right now."

"Well good luck with that, because your trainer is standing right here."

He looked me in the eye, and I did the same. I had to look upwards now to do so, since I was shorter.

"What are they doing?" Tobias wondered aloud.

"I'm… not too sure," Sam replied. "Just let them talk for a bit or something."

It annoyed me that she talked about like I wasn't even there, but I had something else to worry about now.

There was a long pause, with me and Totodile just staring at each other. He was the one to eventually break the silence.

"…How?" he said, still staring at me. "How did you become… this?"

I could have answered the question easily enough by explaining how Giratina appeared to me and forced me into this life. But, as he talked, I could only think about myself falling off the edge of a cliff, with Totodile leaving me when he could have easily helped. He let me die; that was all I could think of.

"How did I become like this?" I said, my voice suddenly turning malicious, "You're the reason this happened! You let me die, you sick bastard!"

I expected him to be surprised or show some kind of guilt, but he just gave me a twisted grin.

"You don't get it, do you?" he said, sounding evil. "What do you think drove me to do something like that?"

"I don't know! Inform me, you douchebag!"

"You!" He screamed, banging his fists repeatedly on the clanking metal fence. "You had been such an asshole to me all the time, and you didn't even feel anything about it!"

"Oh, please. What did I ever do to you?"

Now he was more than pissed. Using more strength than I thought possible for him, he jumped up and over the fence and onto my side. At a point-blank range, he shot a Water Gun into my face.

"Gyaaah!" I screamed in pain, clutching my face, and falling backwards.

"Sam, get him back in his pokeball!" I heard Tobias shout.

"Hang on!" She yelled back. She took Totodile's pokeball from her waist and clicked the button, sending a red beam out to recall him. At the last second though, he jumped to the side, dodging the beam, putting a shocked look on everybody's face.

"You want to know what you did!?" Totodile yelled into my face. "I could make an entire list of what you did! You cast me aside like I was nothing! You ignored me, my hopes, my dreams, just so you could try to achieve your own demented ones!"

Sam tried to recall Totodile again, but he dodged the red beam.

"I tried my best to make you happy, but it was never good enough! You thought I was never good enough! And even when you needed me the most, all you could do was prove how much you hated me!"

"Totodile… would you just-"

"Shut up!" He blasted me with another Water Gun attack. I screamed in agony and writhed on the ground.

"And even now," he continued, "even when you're dead and are miraculously given another chance, you still want to see me suffer and obey you! So to answer the question: why did I let you die? Because you've already killed me inside!"

By now, a large crowd had filled up around this section of the zoo. People were watching with shock, horror and awe at the spectacle Totodile had begun. Sam kept trying to take Totodile back, but he adeptly jumped away each time she tried.

"Please…" I coughed as water stung and dripped off my flesh, "please… stop…"

"Yes, that's right. Now that I'm the more powerful one, now that you think I'm worthy, you start to show some respect. That's how it works with you, doesn't it? You only side with whichever side is the strongest!"

"No... you don't-"

"I understand perfectly!" He guessed my words accurately, and dodged another attempt to be forced into his ball. "You just can't show compassion to anyone or anything, can you? I'm sick of it!" He began to ready another Water Gun.

"Stop!" I cried in desperation. "I'm your trainer! Listen to me!"

He stopped preparing the attack. "Funny," he said. "I recall my trainer being a bit taller than you." He readied the attack again.

"Wait…"

"No! I'm not waiting for you anymore!" A more-than-fully-powered Water Gun sat ready to fire at me in his mouth.

"Stop!" It was a different voice.

By some strange miracle, the ground started to shake, but only in front of me, where Totodile stood. It rattled vigorously, causing him to fall over and release the Water Gun away from me. While on the ground, a small boulder erupted upwards, slicing Totodile's arm open and sending him flying backwards.

The ground opened in front of me, and Clyde emerged, a worry like I had never seen before etched onto his face.

"Don't hurt him!" he shouted desperately. "He's my friend, and I won't let do anything to him!"

Totodile flipped himself up, still eager to fight. "I don't know who you are, Diglett, but stay out of this."

"Yes it does!" he cried. "He's my friend, and I won't let you hurt my friend!"

"Heh," Totodile chuckled, "You've made a friend with a real asshole there. You shouldn't bother protecting him; he would never return the favor."

"You shut up!" Clyde closed his eyes and, seemingly magically, summoned another tremor to appear beneath Totodile. This time, it was much stronger, and the ground juggled him up and down harshly, making new bruises and cuts appear all over.

As soon as the quake ended, Clyde moved close to Totodile's face.

"I could easily finish you off right now," Clyde said savagely. "Give me one good reason not to."

Totodile turned his weary head. I instinctively followed his eyes, and saw Sam lifting his pokeball again.

"I've said what I needed to," Totodile said, his evil grin turning into one of satisfaction. "I'm happy now. I don't think I need to punish you anymore, Reese. Sam clicked the button on his pokeball. "Bye."

The red beam of light from Totodile's pokeball finally hit him, and he was transported back into it. I looked back at Sam and Tobias. They, along with Lea and Synth, wore looks of absolute shock and terror on their faces. They couldn't believe what they had just seen.

"I-I'm sorry, Larvitar," I heard Samantha's shaky voice utter out. "I didn't mean for that to happen. I don't what got into him."

"Sam, I think we'd better leave," Tobias said, equally shocked and looking around nervously. "Security's probably going to kick us out in a minute."

"I know, Tobias. Bye, I'm sorry, again." Tobias and Sam turned and started to quickly walk away. "Lea, Synth, come on."

The both of them turned and left as instructed. Lea, though, before he followed, turned to me, shook his head disappointedly, and left.

I had so many questions swirling in my head now. Why did Sam have Totodile now? How did Totodile become so distraught? Since when was Clyde so powerful? Would I ever see my friends again?

I decided to get an answer to one of them now.

"Clyde," I coughed out, still in extreme pain from the double Water Gun assaults, "how did… how did you do that?"

"Don't worry about me right now," he responded. "I didn't want you to get hurt, so I helped. That's it."

"But how-"

"You can ask questions later. You're weak, and you need to rest now." He turned around again. "I'll wake you up when all the people have left, like you wanted."

"Thanks… Clyde."

I saw him disappear into the dirt. I closed my eyes and tried not to think about my questions now.

At least I was finally going to get the sleep I wanted.

* * *

**How many references do I count? Three! Three references! Ah ah ah ah ah ah!**

**Er herm... make that four.**

**The First: The FUN Song. If any of you have watched Spongebob, I shouldn't need to explain this.**

**The Second: The Ukelele Pichu. Look up Pokemon Ranger: Tracks of Light somewhere. For some reason, the new game incorporates a Pichu with a ukelele. Freaky.**

**The Third: Poketopia Outfitters. This is sort of referencing how, in Pokemon Battle Revolution, you could create your own trainer and buy clothes for them. I figured I'd give the clothes a brand name and use it here.**

**The Fourth: The Count from Sesame Street. Please don't make me explain this one.**

**Wow, I'm really clever, aren't I?**

**By the way, I have a recommendation for you guys. It's another reborn fic. It's called Phoenix Feathers, by Nanashi Chimera. It's definitely ten times better than mine, yet he's nearly forty chapters in and barely has any reviews. I'm sure he would appreciate them, especially since he deserves more of them. Whenever you get the chance, try and look it up. It will definitely be worth it.**

**-Finalsmasher13  
**


	10. Hidden Agenda

**Wow... just, wow. This chapter was really late. All I can say is that I'm sorry. I've just been having some problems with this story that I need to resolve before I get too far ahead. I'll keep doing my best to get these chapters out, but just have some patience.**

**Meh, like you care, though. Just go ahead and read the actual chapter.  
**

* * *

Chapter 10: Hidden Agenda

Eli took a nervous look around him. The window in the wall with a view of the medical room on the other side, the young Larvitar unconscious on the table in the center. Eli knew he would wake sometime soon; his injuries were not extremely serious. Still, the pokemon always worried him, despite the short time he had known him.

He dismissed the thoughts, though. He took out his cell phone from his pocket and flipped it open to dial the familiar numbers, and held the phone up to his ear.

The phone rang three times, each tone seeming like an eternity to Eli. Just when he thought the call would transfer to an answering machine, it stopped, a man's voice appearing on the other end.

"Eli Sables," the man said, sounding uninterested. "Why are you calling?"

"Sir," Eli replied formally, "I need to ask you something."

"What's so important that you need to call me?"

"I need to bring a new pokemon over for approval." He paused. "It's a Larvitar, sir."

"What project is he being assigned to?"

"The Expedition Project, sir."

He grumbled something inaudible over the phone. "I'm not the one you should be talking to about this."

"Well, what do you propose I do, sir?"

"When you go to Sinnoh, find Moris and ask for his confirmation. He should be in Veilstone City right now." Eli was quiet for a minute. "Are you okay, Eli?"

"It's just… how did you know I was going to Sinnoh? It's rather… creepy."

The man chuckled. "Some things I just know, okay?"

"Uh, sure." Eli took another habitual glance around his surroundings, and found his eyes on the window. In it, the Larvitar was clearly beginning to wake up.

"Oh, I have to go," Eli said quickly. "Thanks for your time." He ended the call and snapped the phone shut without waiting for a response, and started hurriedly down the hallway.

* * *

"Hey, he's waking up." It was a new voice.

I groaned, and slowly opened my eyes. I couldn't see well; everything was blurry, and my ears even rang slightly. I rubbed my eyes groggily, and realized one arm was wrapped in gauze. Once I had adjusted to the new, bright lighting, I saw a man I had never seen before standing close to me, writing something down on a clipboard. Soon, it was easy to tell where I was.

It was another of those doctor's office-type rooms. It wasn't the same one from before, but it still appeared remarkably similar. The walls were white and immaculately clean, and some medical tools, such as stethoscopes, thermometers, and all other things I had never heard of or seen before were placed on the counters. There was a small window in the wall, but the only view it offered was another wall in the building. On another wall was a large mirror, which I couldn't resist looking into.

I shivered a little when I saw myself. Small splotches of dark green and black had formed on my skin, mostly on my arms and face, which looked like it had been burned. Like my arm, my head-spike was wrapped in bandages.

"Ugh," I said, disgusted by my own reflection. "How did I get all these bruises?" I quickly remembered what had happened before I passed out. "Oh… Totodile."

As I came to this conclusion, the person in the room walked up close to me.

"I was wondering how long it would take," the man said. He started looking me over, seeming to be inspecting me.

"Ah! What the hell are you doing!?" I yelled, surprised by him. I tried to push his face away from me, but he didn't budge.

"Calm down, I'm not going to hurt you." He proceeded to take a sharp utensil from the counter and poke me with it. Repeatedly.

"It fucking hurts!" I shouted, each prick feeling like an individual stab. I crawled backwards to avoid it, and he came closer. "Get away from me!"

Both of us jumped a little when the door suddenly burst open. Eli walked in calmly, but looked somewhat disheveled and frantic.

"What are you doing now?" He ran up next to the man.

"I'm just making sure he's okay, Eli," he said shamelessly. "No harm done."

"Bullshit! There was definitely harm done!" As usual, I was ignored.

"You're scaring him, that's what you're doing." Eli pushed him out of the way for me. "You okay, little guy?" He pet me on the head, which hurt like hell.

"No. And don't touch me." I slid away from his hand.

"What exactly were you doing with that, anyway?" Eli asked, noticing the pointed whatever-it-was in the other man's hand.

"I'm just testing to see how serious his bruises are. Just making sure he isn't hurting too bad."

Eli quickly swiped the thing from the person's hand, somehow managing not to cut himself on the pointed end.

"With this?" He set it on a counter behind him. "You're supposed to use this." He picked up one of those tools with a triangle on the end that was used to hit people to test their reflexes (I have no idea what it's actually called). He walked over to me with it.

Eli was more gentle with the process. He tapped my arm extremely lightly, but I could still feel the pain of it striking a bruise. He gradually increased the power of his hits, until I drew my arm back to stop the tool from hitting me. He did this in various spots on my tiny, fragile body, until he sighed and set the tool down.

"He's still in pain," he stated obviously. "We can't let much pressure or force be applied to those bruises. He's still too fragile to be getting into major physical activity, so we have to keep him away from it." He sounded like an actual professional. He looked to the other person in the room disapprovingly. "Write it down."

The man clumsily took out a pen from his shirt pocket and started writing more on his clipboard. He took up a minute's time, then asked his own question.

"So, are we just going to have to keep him here all day, just to be safe?" It sounded more like a complaint to me.

"No. We can let him go back outside, but someone will have to keep an eye on him."

The kid groaned. "Can't that Tyranitar take care of it?"

"No, she can't." Eli sighed, clearly becoming progressively more annoyed. "The mother is gone."

"What? Since when?" He was genuinely shocked.

"Yeah, what happened to her?" I spoke up, after being quiet for so long.

"You really don't pay any attention to anything, do you?" the kid grinned sheepishly, and Eli continued: "Someone snuck into the zoo after it closed and took her, with her pokeball too. The security cameras somehow didn't catch anything, and we have no idea

who it was."

"Oh… that sounds bad."

"It means a day without being lectured every other second for me," I said, and smirked cruelly.

"So, um… who's going to watch over him, then?"

"I'll do it," Eli replied. "I've got nothing better to do, anyway."

"Oh thank God," he said, relieved he didn't have to do actual work. He then noticed Eli's disapproving scowl. "Er, um, uh…thanks."

"Whatever," Eli replied, uninterested. He performed a few more simple, quick tests, and after a few minutes, began cleaning up all the tools he had used. "Just show the results to the head zookeeper and be done with it."

"Uh, sure." He smiled and walked out of the room.

"Ugh, I hate that kid," Eli said. "He always just complains about all the work. Maybe working at a zoo wasn't the best career choice for him."

"And I care because…?" I said, finally speaking up.

"Now, let's get outside, okay?" He took my pokeball from his pocket.

"Wait, what?" I took a better glimpse of the red and white sphere in his hand. "Get that thing away from me! I'm not going inside it!"

"Come on, don't freak out." He tried to sound soothing, but easily failed. "You'll only be inside for a few minutes, okay?"

"No! I refuse to go inside that damn-"

He pressed the button on the ball.

"Fuck you!" My voice faded as I was sucked inside the ball.

* * *

It probably was only a few minutes I was forced inside the ball. To me, though, the one forced into his prison, it felt like an eternity. So, when I was finally let out, I went off.

The ball opened, and I could feel myself rematerialize on a stone floor. I took a fleeting glance of my surroundings, and quickly realized I was inside the usual cave in the enclosure. I ignored that though.

"You fucking asshole!" I screamed at Eli. "Wouldn't you understand how much I hate that fucking ball by now? Never put that thing near me again!"

"I can tell you're glad to be back here," he said, completely oblivious to my words.

"Ugh, I hate having to talk like this all the time!" I whined, "No one can understand me."

"…So, here's what's going to happen," he went on. "I'm going to be your babysitter for today, since Bella is gone. I won't do anything, I'm just going to keep a watch on you. Don't go doing anything reckless, okay?"

"I don't need a babysitter," I snorted and walked away angrily.

I quickly realized how sore I was when I tried walking. It felt like twice my weight was pushing down on me with each step. I was suddenly glad I had been forced inside of the pokeball and didn't have to walk.

I soon realized I couldn't walk much further than a few feet outside of the cave. I sat down at one spot and breathed heavily, exhausted by such a simple task, and realized that I was hungry, more so than I could remember being recently. I dug my hand into the surprisingly soft ground and cupped a scoop of dirt into my hands. I then slowly brought it up my mouth and ate it. It tasted somewhat bitter, but I ate it anyway.

I could still see Eli staring at me from the cave with a disgusted look on his face, clearly wondering about my, um… food.

"It's better than the other crap you try to feed me here," I told him. He didn't stop looking, though.

"God, I hate having to do this," I said to myself, looking over my pile of dirt with disdain. "What life form even has to eat dirt to survive besides me? Ugh, I really-"

"Hi there!" I fell flat on my face as Clyde emerged directly in front of me. "Wow, you look terrible."

"I'm glad you took the special time out of your day to tell me what I already know," I growled at him, as I sat up again. "What do you want?"

"You seemed lonely," he said, sidling up to me. "I thought you might want someone to talk to. Other than yourself, I mean. You seem to have a habit of doing that, you know. You talk to yourself when you're asleep, when you're awake, when you're alone-"

"I get it," I said, feeling annoyed.

He stared blankly for a moment. "You seem angry. Why?"

"Maybe I'm just a little pissed about how my own pokemon attacked and nearly killed me again. And how I can't move a few steps without hurting myself. And at the whole situation of my life."

"Oh… so what are you doing?"

"Augh, you have the attention span of a lampshade!" My eye twitched slightly.

"…So yeah, what are you doing?" I groaned.

"I was eating, but then you showed up."

"You were eating dirt?" He asked it like he was accusing me.

"At least I have a mouth to eat with."

"…Touche." He came closer and stood (or whatever it a Diglett really does) next to me. "Are you feeling any better from before?"

"No," I answered bluntly.

"Oh… it's just that you were hurt real bad yesterday. I thought you might need help with something…" He sounded shy.

"Wait, yesterday?" Clyde nodded. "I've been out for an entire day?"

"Yup," he answered simply.

"Great. Oh, that reminds me," I said, suddenly recalling my question from the day before. "Clyde, how were you able to beat my Totodile?"

"Huh?" he asked, sounding clueless. "It wasn't anything special, really."

"You only used three attacks, and you were at a type disadvantage."

"I was just really scared for you, I thought he was going to hurt you, and-"

"Don't give me that 'Power of Friendship' crap," I said crudely, "I want to know how."

"Um… well, I used to travel with a trainer. I leveled up a lot during that time, I guess." He sounded unsure of himself.

"What level are you at, then?"

"I don't remember. Check a pokedex or something."

"Yeah, sure." We both sat quietly for a few moments. "I'm just a little surprised, that's all."

"Why?"

"You always seemed like the type to go down the second something hit you."

"Really?" A glint appeared in his eyes. "Those are bold words coming from someone like you."

"Oh, come on. I can still fight."

Clyde then jerked his head to the side, then suddenly swung it forward and slammed into my arm. I fell to the ground and screamed in intense pain, clutching my bruised arm with the other bandaged one.

"Then how come you already lost?"

"What the hell is wrong with you!?" I said through my teeth, breathing heavily as well.

"I was just trying to prove a point."

"What!" I forced myself to ignore my pain and lunged at Clyde, jabbing my head spike into him. It felt like the appendage broke off, but Clyde didn't budge.

"Um… ouch?" I slumped down onto my stomach. "Was that supposed to hurt?"

I weakly raised a fist and smacked it into him, a pathetic attempt to cause damage.

"Nope, still nothing," he commented. "Why are you so tired already?"

"I'm still in pain from yesterday," I feebly said, sighing. I slowly stood back up.

"Then you shouldn't ask to start a battle. You'd lose, anyway."

"You're the one who started it!"

"All the same. You still lost, though."

"Okay, that's it!" I jumped forward again to Tackle him. At the last second, he dug underground, causing me to fly forward and land sliding on my face. He quickly reappeared directly behind me, and he readied another attack.

But before he could, a giant foot swung down and kicked Clyde hard, stopping his attack.

I yelped and jumped backward. I looked up, and saw Eli looking down at both me and Clyde disapprovingly.

"What are you two doing now?" he asked accusingly.

"Oh good, it's the babysitter," I spat out with contempt. He glared fiercely at me.

"Grant, I told you not to go straining yourself." He knelt down and looked all around my body.

"What are you doing now?" I took a step backward to avoid his inspection.

"You look fine… but you need to stay out of trouble."

He moved his foot away, revealing Clyde with dizzy, swirled eyes.

"And Clyde, you know better than to start something like this. You know Grant is nowhere near as strong as you."

"Hey! What is that supposed to mean?" Eli kicked me lightly, and I crumbled like a glass vase.

"You see?" He waited for Clyde to shake off his stomp.

"I'm sorry," he admitted ashamedly. "I was just having fun…"

"Leave him alone for the rest of the day. I'll be staying with him for now."

"Okay… sorry, Grant."

"Wait, what do you mean "'staying with me?'" I suddenly wondered. Clyde disappeared, leaving me alone with Eli. He glanced at me again.

"Come here." He started walking back to the cave; I just stayed there. He noticed that I didn't comply. "I said, come here." I followed this time, if for no better reason than to get him to shut up.

We reached the back of the small passage. Eli sat down on the stony ground.

"You really are a handful." He sighed heavily. "You just love to cause trouble, don't you?"

"I've done nothing wrong," was my pointless defense.

"I guess it's natural for you to want to be fighting, though. Most babies usually begin to learn to battle by now."

"So now I officially am acting like a real pokemon. Great," I commented disappointedly. "Well, I'll be off trying to forget what my life has come to. See ya." I began walking away.

"Oh, no you don't." Eli grasped my head spike. "You're not leaving my sight."

"What the- get off of me!" I tried to pry his hands off of me, but it did no good. He dragged me back to where I was a second ago.

"You're too weak to get into any more fights today."

"I don't want to fight!" I continued to try and run away, but my efforts were futile. "Since when would you even know? Last time I went into that doctor's office, you barely knew how to use a thermometer!"

He smirked and didn't reply back. I found I was honestly exhausted within a few minutes' time, and gave up altogether.

"Could you please just let me go?" I pleaded. "I not gonna do anything!"

There was no response.

"Augh, I hate you!"

"Ugh, I forgot how annoying baby pokemon are," he complained, obviously only hearing a pestering repetition of 'Larv.'

"I am not a fucking baby!" I writhed in his hands, but impressively he managed to keep hold.

"Man, you're a rambunctious little guy, aren't you?"

"Stop calling me that!"

I continued to try to escape him, but my efforts predictably amounted to nothing. In the end, Eli won, and I didn't bother to try fighting anymore.

"You see? It would've been easier just to listen to me in the first place."

"Go to hell," I said.

We sat in silence for a few minutes. Eli seemed to be thinking about something. I was so exhausted from everything, I was trying to go to sleep again.

"Just relax today," Eli said. "You're going to be having a big day tomorrow."

"That's nice," I said, not paying much attention. "Wait, what do mean by 'big day'?"

My question went unanswered. However, I noticed Eli was secretly smiling.

* * *

**Maybe next time the actual _plot_ will begin. : )**

**-Finalsmasher13  
**


	11. Incoherent Explanation

**Some of this stuff made a lot more sense in my head before I started typing it...  
**

* * *

Chapter 11: Incoherent Explanation

The breeze managed to tousle Sam's long, brown hair as she leaned over the railing of the ship and looked out into the dark distance of the windy night. The waves of the black and blue sea crashed against the side of the boat, a soothing sound caused by it resounding through the air. The chill of the gale made goosebumps appear on her mostly bare arms. Behind her, there was the sound of a sliding door opening and closing quietly as Tobias joined her.

"You okay?" Tobias asked as he leaned his head over the side railing.

She sniffled a little. "Yeah, I'm fine," she replied. "Just been thinking a lot lately."

"About what?" He wondered.

"Everything," she said, sighing. "So much has happened in just this past week, I just can't believe it."

He sighed pensively. "Try not to dwell on it. We're on a boat to Sinnoh, now. We're about to start what we've been waiting for years to do."

"That's just it, though. First, Reese… y'know, then I get his Totodile, your own pokemon evolves, Totodile goes on some random rampage against a baby Larvitar, and now we're leaving our homes for an indefinite amount of time to go take the Pokemon League Challenge!" She took a short gasp; her breath had quickly run out. "It's just been so crazy recently."

He wrapped an arm around her in a friendly gesture. "I know what you mean, Sam. I also know how hard it's been for you since Reese died. You've been doing a great job holding up."

He paused for a hopeful response, but received none.

"But just look forward to what we're doing! We're going to a different country to win badges and become champions! We're going on our own pokemon journey!"

Sam giggled a little. "You sound so cheesy saying that stuff."

"Whatever. Try to forget about what's happened and focus on what's ahead. You'll save yourself a lot of pain that way."

She smiled, realizing the truth in Tobias's words. "Thanks, Tobes. I guess I _can_ look forward to beating your ass in the league."

"So I try to make you feel better, and you have to insults. You're so mean." He rubbed his eyes, pretending to cry.

"Oh, shut up! If you sound any stupider, I'll throw you off the side of this boat."

"Aw, listen to you, trying to sound threatening." Tobias laughed, and Sam punched him in the arm.

The two laughed at the immaturity of each other. As they did, the wind suddenly picked up speed, and they felt a few drops of water immediately fall from the sky onto their heads.

"Great, rain," Tobias commented dejectedly. "Let's get back inside."

Sam nodded, and the two turned around and walked to the sliding door behind them. Tobias opened it, allowing Sam to walk in first, and then went in himself, shutting the door behind him.

Lea and Totodile stared up at the two as they closed the door, with lazy and bored eyes, from the bed they sat on. Synth was busy snoring loudly in his sleep on the floor to notice them.

"You guys weren't out there for long," Lea said. He stretched like he was about to stand up, but didn't move from the spot on his trainer's bed.

Sam sat down on her bed. "Did Totodile behave himself, Lea?"

"You only left me here for a few minutes," Totodile complained. "It's not like I could have caused much damage."

"Yes, he was fine," Lea said.

"I'll take the lack of a carcass in the room as a yes," Sam said. She pet Lea's head. "And it better stay that way, Totodile."

"So now you don't trust me?"

"Dude, you nearly killed an innocent Larvitar," Lea stated in place of Sam. "I think you're gonna have to stay on Sam's good side for a little while."

"I told you why I did it. It's not my fault you don't believe me."

"I'm supposed to believe that Reese was reincarnated a baby pokemon at the zoo after he died, the one Sam just happened to want to see since she first went there the other day. That is a really bold thing to try and get others to agree with."

Totodile mumbled another word under his breath. "Fine, don't believe me. It doesn't involve you anyway."

"…So," Sam spoke up, "what are we-"

_BOOM!_

The thunder boomed outside. It must have been close, due to the loudness of the sound. The light tapping of rain on the glass door became a barrage of loud smacks, as the rain immediately intensified.

"Damn, that rain picked up quick," Tobias said. He moved away from the door and leaned against the wall.

"Anyway," Sam continued, "what are we going to do when we get to Sinnoh?"

"Well, the boat is supposed to get to the Canalave City Port tomorrow morning. My plan was that we maybe spend a little time there to get all the supplies we need, and then we go to Sandgem Town to fully register as trainers. And then the next day, we finally start."

Sam considered the proposal in her mind. "Yeah, sounds good to me." She looked out the glass door. "I just hope this rain isn't going to last into tomorrow. Starting our journey during a storm seems like bad luck."

"It's kind of odd," Tobias said. "I checked the weather for tonight earlier today. There wasn't supposed to be any rain."

"Which further justifies this being bad luck."

"I think you're just para-"

_BOOM!_

The sky lit up completely for a tenth of a second as lightning struck close to the boat.

"-noid," Tobias finished.

"Maybe you're right" Sam said, a hint of nervousness in her voice. "But I still don't want to have to begin in this weather."

"I hope it's not an omen or anything," Totodile said, though more to himself than anyone else.

"I doubt a simple storm means anything special," Lea said in response.

_THUNK!_

Everyone jumped when some something collided hard with the glass door. A giant crack appeared where the object impacted it.

"What the hell was that!?" Synth shouted, as the sound woke him up.

"Damn, what was that?" Tobias asked, unknowingly imitating his pokemon's words. He looked out the door, more specifically on the floor directly outside. "Hey, I think there's something there!"

"No duh, of course something's there," Sam said. "What is it?"

"Hang on." Tobias slid open the door, trying his best not to let much of the rain inside. He leaned over and picked up something from the ground, and brought it inside.

"Uh… what is it?" Sam asked again after looking at it, this time genuinely confused.

In Tobias's hands was a pokemon. Its body was a pale yellow in color. It appeared short and delicate, with tiny feet and hands tipped with red. Its large, rabbit-like ears seemed to have been dipped in red paint. Its short tail was fashioned into the shape of a plus symbol, which matched the shape inside the red spots on its cheeks. At the time, its eyes were closed, and wouldn't stir.

"I… think it's a Plusle," Tobias replied, confused. "What's a Plusle doing all the way out here?"

"I don't know." Sam stood up from the bed and took a look at the pokemon. "There's a Pokemon Center on board the boat. We should probably take it there."

"Yeah, okay." Tobias, with the mysterious unconscious Plusle still in his hands, started walking towards the other door in the room which led to an indoor hallway. "Synth, come on."

"You two come with me, too," Sam said, pointing to Lea and Totodile.

All the pokemon stood up. Lea climbed up onto Sam's head, while Totodile jumped on the ground with Synth. As one group, everyone walked out the door.

* * *

I felt a large hand jostling me around on my shoulder. I tried swatting it away with my own, much smaller hand at first, but it persisted until I couldn't disregard it any further.

"I'm trying to sleep," I moaned groggily to whatever it was. I rolled over and pried open my eyes, and a person in black clothes that matched the darkness of the night meeting my sight. He wore a black backpack along with it. It didn't take long for me to recognize him.

"Eli… why did I expect any different?" I whined, accompanied by a heavy sigh "Can't you just let me relax for once?"

"Come on," Eli said. "We're leaving."

"Leaving?" I stood up, staggering a little from my still-hurting legs. "What do you mean by that?"

"What do you think it means?"

"Yah!" I screamed and jumped up a little. I shouted because it was a different voice answering me, not Eli, as I knew he wouldn't even know what I said. I spun around and saw one of the weirdest things ever.

I had never seen this pokemon before, but it was easy to tell what it was. A small red ball for a body, surrounded by a blue aura with lightning bolt-shaped 'arms' jutting out of it. I put on a puzzled look like one I had never had before.

"I may be dreaming or something, 'cause I'm still half asleep, but, um… is that a Rotom?" I asked, and scratched my head like an idiot.

"You would be correct, slow one," it said, sounding disgruntled. It folded its… 'arms' across his body.

"What's a pokemon like you doing here?" I asked him, more than confused already.

It sighed irritably. "You see that camera over there?" He pointed to a spot on the ceiling of the cave. Sure enough, a small camera hung from the top.

"How did I never notice that before?" I wondered to myself.

"I make sure those are disabled, so we don't get caught."

I rubbed my eyes again. "Get caught doing what?"

"You heard what Eli said," it replied, with hint of grumpiness, "You're getting out of this place."

"You mean, like, to another exhibit or something?"

It chuckled a little. "Man, you're dense," it said.

"I'm just tired," I protested. "Besides, I'm not used to waking up to a floating ball of plasma in front of me."

"Stop making so much noise," Eli scolded us. "You're going to wake up the other pokemon."

"I don't see why we need to go through all this trouble for just one little baby here," the Rotom grumbled.

"What trouble?" I asked again, still confused. "Can someone explain what the hell is happening?"

"Sorry about this, little guy." I whipped my head around again to see that Eli was pointing my pokeball at me again. "This will just take a few minutes, okay?"

I blinked slowly. "You know what? Whatever I do, you're going to do it anyway. So let's just get it over with, then."

Eli flashed a smile, before recalling me into the pokeball.

…………

The ball opened, and in a flash of light I rematerialized on the ground. But I immediately noticed something was wrong. This ground felt different; instead of dirt and rock, I felt soft earth and grass beneath my feet.

I looked in all directions around me. Everything was completely different. I was standing in a small open area next to some sort of pier, judging by the boats in the water. Which was another thing: the water. It had only been a week, but it felt like I hadn't seen the ocean in years.

Eli was sitting on the ground in front of me, typing on a laptop computer he magically got from somewhere. My pokeball sat on the ground next to him. The Rotom was hovering in the air next to Eli's computer, looking at it with interest. But that could all wait.

"Where am I now?" I asked, still wondering what the hell was going on. "Am I not in the zoo anymore?"

"What gave you the hint?" Rotom retorted, in obvious sarcasm. He floated over to me.

"You. Tell me what the fuck is happening here."

"Whoa, watch the pottymouth, kid." I growled at him. "But, if I told you what was going on, it would take the fun out of teasing you for your ignorance, wouldn't it?"

"If I had fingers on my hands, I would give you the middle one," I sneered at him.

"Looks like we're both in the same situation, then," it remarked.

"At least tell me what your name is," I requested. "It'll get annoying to both of us if I have to keep calling you Rotom."

"Oh. My name's Elex," it said. I failed to stifle a snort. "What's funny about that?"

"It's just a strange name, that's all." It rolled its giant blue eyes.

"Whatever," it remarked. Then, all of a sudden, his face seemed to light up for a second. "Hey, I just remembered! I know someone who can explain all of this to you."

Before I could ask what it meant, it floated away from me and back to Eli, who was still typing away at his laptop. Elex tapped him on his shoulder with his bolt-arm thing. A spark flew off of him.

"Gah! Shit, that hurt," Eli shouted, rubbing his shoulder in pain. Because apparently, being tapped on the shoulder by a floating ball of electricity might hurt. "Elex, what do you want?"

It pointed with one of its 'arms' to his left pants pocket.

"What do you…Oh, right! Thanks for reminding me!" He suddenly set his laptop off of his lap and reached his hand into his pocket. The hand emerged with another pokeball in its palm.

"Watch out, Grant," he advised me as he smiled and pressed the button.

I jumped back as the jagged white line of energy jutted out of the ball and onto the ground. The light defined itself as a gigantic shape, and when it faded, a sleeping Tyranitar was lying on the ground.

"B-Bella!?" I shouted in bewilderment, easily recognizing my pokemon mother. She waited a few seconds before she groaned, and slowly cracked open an eye.

"Am I finally out of that ball?" She curiously, albeit lazily, asked. She saw me, and both her eyes widened. "Grant? Is that you?"

She clearly knew it was me, though. Before she gave me a chance to answer her, she reached out her arm and wrapped it around me, dragging me into her face.

"Ah! Get off me!" I shouted in protest. Instead, she began kissing me repeatedly on the forehead.

"Oh, I missed you so much!" She squealed delightedly, and continued kissing me.

"It's only been two days!" I struggled and squirmed to break free. "Let me go!"

"I think I'll leave you two alone for now," Eli joked, and stood up and walked away a few feet. He quickly sat back down and started typing again on his laptop.

"Would you stop already!" I managed to push myself away from her face, but she still kept me close. "Ugh, you're disgusting!"

"Showing affection is disgusting?"

"Yes!"

She laughed a little. "You just don't wanna admit that you missed me too."

"Shut up, I did not." I found myself smiling somewhat anyway. She laughed again, believing the opposite.

She looked over my body, examining me like I was yesterday. "Oh God, what happened to you?" she said, now in a concerned tone. "You're covered in cuts and bruises."

I lowered my head in disappointment. "Let's just leave it at, I got into a fight."

I didn't think I should tell her that it was my own Totodile who attacked me. It would bring up more than I felt like talking about at that time. Plus, I was too tired to discuss anything at the time. Luckily for me, she didn't push the specifics of the matter any further.

"You must have gotten in way over your head," she said disapprovingly.

"It wasn't my fault," I protested in my own defense. "I was just attacked."

"It figures. This is just the sort of thing that happens when I leave you alone."

At those words, a question raised into my mind. "Why were you gone, anyway? Did you escape, or something?"

Again, she looked at me disapprovingly. "Do you really think something as big as me would be able to get out of that place without anyone noticing?"

"That's what the people at the zoo said."

She sighed. "I better explain what's happening, then,"

"Finally, someone's going to," I sighed as well, in relief. "Elex wasn't any help with that."

"Anyway," Bella continued, "I was in my pokeball for a few days." I opened my mouth to question her again, but she put a thick finger over it. "Eli wanted to get both of us out of the zoo, but the zookeeper wouldn't just let him take us out, so he kind of… 'stole' us from there in the middle of the night."

Now it was my turn to stare disapprovingly at her.

"And why exactly did he need to get us out from there?" I questioned.

"He probably thought it would make you happy," she told me. "If I could tell you hated being stuck there, I'm sure Eli was able to tell."

"But wouldn't it make it easier if he just took us both out at the same time?"

She opened her mouth to answer, but the words must have frozen in her throat.

"You know, it probably would have... maybe he just wanted to see how you would hold up without me there, or something." She looked me up and down again. "Of course, judging by all the bandages you have all over you, _clearly_ you didn't do a good job."

"I already told you, it wasn't my fault!"

"Oh, I'm sure you did something to cause it," she joked, "you're too fractious for this to randomly happen."

"I don't know what fractious means, but I'm sure it was an insult," I sneered.

She laughed at me again, for what felt like the hundredth time. "As far as you know, it means that you're not getting out of my sight again for a while."

"Just my luck," I groaned sarcastically.

Our conversation was suddenly interrupted by the sound of an electronic ringing.

I glanced everywhere for the source. I could tell it was from an ordinary cell phone, so my eyes were drawn to the only thing in earshot which would have a cell phone: Eli. Sure enough, he reached into a small pocket on his backpack, plucked out the expected cell phone, and flipped it open, holding it up to his ear.

"Eli Sables speaking," he said, sounding like a bored secretary. "Oh, hey Marcus… yeah, I have my PC open right now… you're sending it over now? …Okay, I'm waiting…"

"…You know, I'm starting to get a little suspicious about him," I said.

"How so?" questioned Bella, still holding on to me like her life depended on it.

"If you don't take into account the fact that he's committed a felony by stealing you and me, and for some reason has one of the rarest pokemon in Sinnoh, he always seems like he's hiding something. And he acts so weird all the time."

Bella put on a puzzled look. "Again, I have to ask, how so?"

"He keeps… 'talking' to me. I mean, not like he understands me, but can come up with a response for whatever I say or do. It's just creepy."

"I think you might be worrying too much," she said. "If there was anything important to know about him, you would know it by now."

I mulled over her words. "I don't think so. There's something about him... you know, you're kind of suspicious, too."

"Me?" She scoffed. "What could I have possibly done?"

"How come you're able to read the clock in that cave?" I asked. "As far as I know, pokemon aren't supposed to be able to read, letters or numbers.

"Well, you can read. What about that?"

"I already knew how to read before I was turned into a Larvitar," I said. "It's not like I would magically lose that skill. Now answer my question."

"I've been alive for a long time. Some things you can just pick up."

I gazed at her with my eyes half closed, knowing she was lying. She stared back, but her stare was much more intense than mine.

"…Whatever," I said, submitting to her own gaze. "I'll interrogate you later. I'm too tired to deal with anything right now."

"Good," she said, while smiling to herself.

"Okay, it's here," Eli suddenly said, his voice with a hint of optimism in it. "Thanks. I'll give him back once we're over there. Bye." He clicked what I assumed was the 'end call' button and flipped the phone shut.

He pressed another key on his laptop, and something that looked like a disk drive with a pokeball symbol imprinted on it popped out from the side of the computer. He tapped a few more keys, and all of a sudden said disk drive thing started to glow. As it did, the faint, white outline of a spherical object seemed to materialize on the small panel. The glow ceased in mere seconds, and sitting on the panel was an ordinary pokeball.

"Okay, that whole display has to violate at least two laws of physics," I said cynically, yet mystified about the object.

Eli picked it up and typed on one more key on his computer, which withdrew the drive back into the computer. He then closed the computer, opened a giant pocket in his backpack and set the laptop inside, zipping it back up.

"Alright," he finally said. "Come out, Alakazam."

My jaw dropped to the ground as the ball opened. Sure enough, and to my astonishment, an Alakazam appeared out of the ball. It looked, interestingly enough, somewhat lazy, holding both spoons in one hand and twirling its unnaturally long moustache with its free hand.

"What the… w-what?" I stammered. "What is with all these rare pokemon here?"

"Alakazam," Eli began, "I need you to teleport us all to Sinnoh, okay?"

"What the fuck!?" I screamed.

"Shush up," Bella said, and tapped me on the head. "You'll figure it all out later."

I grumbled obscenities under my breath. This was so much more than I wanted to deal with now, and I barely even understood what was happening anyway.

"Your trainer should have given you the specific coordinates," Eli continued. "Near the outskirts of Veilstone City. You think you can do it?"

The Alakazam glanced all around him, observing each of us here. He was probably evaluating his challenge.

"…Easy," he simply put it. Without any further instruction, he closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath. His skinny chest puffed up a little, and he opened his eyes. They had turned an eerie blue.

Soon an entire aura of blue light surrounded the Alakazam. Before I knew it, the rest of us, Bella, Eli, and I, were surrounded in a deep blue aura as well. It even manifested on Elex, who it was barely visible on, since it blended in with his natural blue aura.

I felt myself lift off the ground. Before I could question anything, my entire field of vision turned the same eerie blue as the Alakazam's eyes, and then everything became white.

* * *

Tobias leaned in his chair against the cold wall. His hands were folded behind his head, and he stared at a red light above the door marked 'Emergency.' Synth was flopped on the floor and sleeping, with Totodile asleep on his back.

Sam sat beside him as well, her unwavering gave directed at the same sign. She unconsciously stroked Lea's fur while he slept on her lap. They had all waited for over an hour already in the Pokemon Center lobby for news on the mysterious Plusle, and both trainers were just as tired as their pokemon.

It took a few minutes, but eventually the light above the door dimmed, and the door swung open, revealing an exhausted Nurse Joy with unnaturally disheveled pink hair and a clipboard in her arm. Tobias immediately jumped up to greet her.

"So, how's the Plusle going to be?" he asked concernedly to the nurse. He nervously looked in the direction of the door, behind which the small pokemon slept.

"Well, first off, you should know that it's a she," the nurse told him, glancing back at the door as well.

"Oh. Thanks for letting me know."

"But there's definitely something wrong with her," she began. "I've run her through the healing machines and tried anything else I can at the moment, but she won't wake up. I also noticed that her body was emitting some sort of radiation. It doesn't seem harmful, but we need to be careful around her."

Tobias rubbed his eyes in drowsiness. "Just great... is there anything else you can do?"

She shook her head side to side. "I've tried everything I can right now. I've hooked her up to some of the life support machines, just in case something goes wrong. That Plusle is just unconscious right now, so she'll wake up. My guess would be in a few days. But trust me, she's going to be fine."

"That's good to hear." He turned his head and yawned loudly.

"Could you tell me how you found this Plusle?" she asked, somewhat intrigued.

"Sam spoke up for Tobias. "A few minutes after it started raining, we heard something hit our door. We opened it, and there she was. That's all we know."

"Could it just be another passenger's pokemon?" Tobias asked.

"That's just what I wondered," Nurse Joy said again, habitually glancing back at the Emergency room once more. "When someone boards the ship, we make a record of what pokemon are accompanying them. I checked those archives, but there was no record of a Plusle ever coming aboard this ship."

"What?" Tobias asked in disbelief. The nurse nodded to confirm her statement. "What's going to happen to her, then?"

"Well, since she's not registered to any trainer, that Plusle is considered a wild pokemon. Technically, if you found her, you can claim her as your own pokemon."

"You're serious?" he asked, again in disbelief. Nurse Joy nodded in affirmation. "Uh… well, if it isn't anyone's pokemon, I'll be happy to take her off your hands."

"Oh, that's great!" she said, oddly enthusiastically. She wrote a few quick notes on her clipboard. "Of course, that also means you're going to have to wait for her medical needs to be fulfilled."

"What exactly does that entail, though?"

"We're docking in the Canalave City Port tomorrow," she said. "We can transfer her to the Pokemon Center there, but you'll need to wait for her to wake up before you go anywhere."

"We're not in any hurry," Sam interrupted and answered for Tobias. "We can wait."

Nurse Joy looked to Tobias, and he nodded his agreement.

"Good," the nurse said. She wrote one more thing on her clipboard, and set it down on the nearby counter. She then dug her hand into her pocket and pulled out a pink ball. She placed it in Tobias's palm.

"What is it?" Tobias asked, inspecting the small ball. It was clearly a pokeball, but a strange one. It was pink all over, with cream colored crescents on the front. The center line and button was blue instead of the usual white and black.

"That's a Heal Ball," she explained. "You can put her in that tomorrow once we arrive. It will help keep her stable while she's being taken to the Canalave City Pokemon Center, since she will be off of the machines."

"Uh, thanks," Tobias said. "Don't worry, I'll take good care of her."

"See to it that you do." She gave a bright smile, and turned around to walk away.

Tobias sighed heavily, and flopped into his chair. He habitually pet Synth on his shell, but received no response from the sleeping Grove Pokemon.

"Tired?" Sam asked him.

"Yes. But I'm mostly just worried about that Plusle, is all," he admitted. "I mean, it literally fell from the sky. How the hell does that even happen?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "Eh, I don't get it either. It would make more sense if it was a Flying type, but a Plusle… I don't get it."

"Well, I guess we can try to find out more about her tomorrow. I think we all need our rest for now, though. We've got a lot to do tomorrow." He looked down and smiled at Synth and Totodile, who was still snoring on his back.

Sam yawned, as if to emphasize his point. "I guess so. I think we're all pretty tired right now, anyway." She picked up Lea and stood up, stretching her legs. Lea remained asleep. "Let's go."

"Yeah, sure." Tobias stood up as well, then leaned over again and began rubbing Synth's head.

"Come on buddy, wake up," he said to the pokemon. After a few similar tries, his eyes slowly opened halfway.

"Please let me sleep," Synth said woozily. "And what's on my back?"

"Let's get back to the room, okay?" Tobias whispered to him. The Grotle weakly stood up on his four legs, stretching them out at the same time.

"Fine, whatever." Tobias and Sam smiled, while Synth mumbled something quietly.

Everyone now up and awake (except for Lea and Totodile), they all walked out of the Pokemon Center lobby, to prepare for a new day ahead of them.

* * *

**Vocabulary Word of the Day!**

**Fractious: (_adjective_) Inclined to cause trouble; unruly.**

**-Finalsmasher13**


	12. The Destruction of a Wall of Secrecy

**Well, I'm sure you're all a little pissed at me for not updating in about a whole month... yeah... I have something important to say for after you read this chapter. Make sure you read the Suthor's Note at the bottom. It really is important.**

* * *

Chapter 12: The Destruction of a Wall of Secrecy

The perpetual whiteness faded from my vision, and I found myself… floating?

"What the-" I began to question. And then, I fell from the air and landed on my face on the cold, stony ground.

"…Ow," I said. My voice was muffled by the ground. "What just happened?"

I looked up, and noticed everything around me… sort of. I was somewhere completely different from before. It was still night, but the sky was lit up a short ways in front of me by, from what I could tell, bright manufactured lights. Unfortunately, that was all I could see; for some reason, my vision was extremely cloudy, and objects seemed to blend together. I felt like I was half blind.

"Are you okay, Grant?" It was Bella, she was standing behind me. I slowly staggered up, and steadied myself with her leg.

"I feel dizzy…" I let go, and the ground seemed to move beneath my feet, and I quickly fell on my ass. "Damn it."

"You must not be used to teleporting yet," she explained.

"That's what that was? Ugh, I never wanna do it again." I rubbed my temples in exhaustion; too much had happened recently and I didn't feel like dealing with it. As I wondered about this, Bella leaned over and picked me up off the ground.

"What are you doing?" I pouted, "Put me down!"

"Do we need to go through this whole ordeal again?" she asked. "Your sense of depth goes awkward after you teleport. You're not going to be able to walk straight for a while."

"You seem perfectly fine," I said in an accusatory tone.

"I've had practice with it," she said with a shrug. "I don't get affected by it now."

"How have you had practice with this?"

"Look, quit playing Twenty Questions and deal with it."

"Whatever! But I don't need to be carried everywhere." She placed me in the crook of her arm and held up her other hand in front of me.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" It was hard to tell, my vision was blurry, and they seemed to melt together."

"Um… four?" I hopefully guessed.

"I only have three," she said. "You need to be held." I growled at her.

"I hate you sometimes," I grumbled in defeat.

She laughed. "That must mean I'm doing a good job." I sighed heavily.

"So where are we, anyway? Not like I could tell anyway, but if we had to teleport somewhere, it must be far away, so…?"

"We're on the outskirts of Veilstone City," she said. "It's a popular city in Sinnoh."

"We're in Sinnoh!?" I freaked, shouting it out loudly. Bella covered her ear (or rather, a hole in the side of her head) with her free hand and grimaced.

"Scream louder, I don't think China heard you," she said sarcastically.

"Why …what the hell is China?"

"Could you be any louder?" another voice said. Eli walked up to me from wherever he had magically appeared. Elex and that Alakazam were floating and standing beside him, respectively. I could barely distinguish Eli, due to his black clothing, and the other two looked like fuzzy blobs of red and yellow. "At least you're fully awake now."

"Oh good, the rest of the circus is here," I said.

"Okay, first off," Eli started to say, "since I'm not your trainer, Alakazam, do you still want to come back with us?"

The Alakazam looked around for a moment, then vanished in a quick teleport without saying anything."

"…I'll take that as a no," Eli said dejectedly. "Well, come on guys, start walking."

"Technically, you and me are the only ones walking," Bella said, as she adjusted my position in her arms. We all started moving anyway.

"So, back to my question," I continued, "why are we in Sinnoh? And where exactly are we going anyway?"

"We're in Sinnoh because Eli took us here." I rolled my eyes, but I never expected her to give me a plausible reason anyway. "And we're going to one of the buildings in the city," she said. I waited for more, but nothing came.

"Real specific there," I said, rolling my eyes. "Could you tell me what building?"

"You'll see when we get there," she said with a yawn.

"You're useless," I said, and the phrase went without a response.

The coming walk turned out to be relatively uneventful. We all continued toward the city, which became increasingly visible from the white lights in the sky. As we walked, my vision steadily restored itself, and I could make out a short building ahead of us.

"Is that the place you were talking about?" I asked Bella nonchalantly.

"No, this isn't it," she said. "I think this is just the gate into the city."

As it turned out, she was right. We walked closer to the small building, and I noticed a bronzed plaque by the door that read: "Veilstone City; Hewn from Rock." Real creative city slogan, there.

Eli opened a glass door, and the bright indoor lights greeted us. Eli and Elex went inside, but Bella took a few extra seconds to squeeze her large body through the thin entrance. Once inside, we found a near-sleeping guard looking into a computer screen on his side of a counter, with half closed eyes. Drool was dripping from his mouth.

"Welcome to… Veilstone…" he said, not bothering to look up. "Is there…anything I can… help you with…"

"No, we're good," Eli said, barely stopping for him. "You might want to get some sleep, though."

"Can't… no other way to make money…" he finally decided to look up, and gave us a mystified look.

"Um… shouldn't you keep that thing in it's pokeball?" He cautiously asked. "It's a dangerous pokemon."

Eli looked speechless for a moment, then quickly realized he was talking about Bella.

"Oh, her? She's tame. She wouldn't do anything to anybody," Eli explained.

"Well just… be careful with that thing. You never know when pokemon can snap."

"Yeah sure," Eli dismissed his remark and we left through the other side of the gate.

"I don't like him," Bella sneered once he was safely out of earshot, though he wouldn't have understood her anyway. "He didn't even think twice before assuming I was just going to destroy the city. Asshole."

"Good for you," I said, not caring.

"You could at least listen to me," she grumbled out.

"I'm tired, I don't feel like it." She grunted, but did nothing else.

As we continued walking, we entered further into the city. It was absolutely astounding; there were so many buildings and shops everywhere I felt absolutely puny by comparison (not like I'm not already).

"Man, there's so much here," I gawked at all the buildings around me as we pressed on. Even though it was the middle of the night, most of the places still had lights on inside.

"You like it here?" Bella asked me.

"Not really," I said. "Coming from a place made up of small islands, I've never really been in a big city like this before. It's just interesting, is all.

"Oh."

"Are we close yet? I want to sit down. And I don't feel like walking anymore."

"You're not even walking, you lazy kid," Bella said.

"Who's the one who decided to carry me?" I said snidely. She snorted at me.

"I think the Building is coming up soon," she said.

* * *

The Building was absolutely gigantic. It rose maybe six stories into the air, and, from what I could tell, took up more space than many of the other buildings. Above the doors that looked small by comparison, though were still larger than any I had ever seen, were giant letters that said "Leaton Experimental Facilities." I guess 'Leaton' is someone's name, but it still didn't make much sense.

"So, this is the place you were taking me to?" I asked Eli, though I knew he wouldn't respond. "This place is fucking huge."

We all walked up to the glass doors, behind which most of the lights were dim. Eli tried the handles on them, which he realized were locked. After trying that, he reached into his pocket and took out a laminated card, which I recognized as some weird type of trainer card, except with some sort of bar code on the back of it. He swiped the card in a card reader on the side of the door, and the doors magically unlocked.

Eli tried the doors one more time, and this time they swung open wide.

"Alright, come on in, guys," he said. Once we were all inside, the doors shut behind us with an ominous creaking sound.

Even though the only light in the room was coming from a small ceiling lamp, I could easily tell how clean everything looked. The floor was made of spotless white marble, along with the walls, and the entire place smelled like bleach. There was an empty reception counter in one corner, and atmospheric office plants set in all other corners of the room. Even though it looked innocent enough, the setting gave me a creepy and nervous feeling.

"Could you put me down now?" I asked Bella, more to take my mind off this place than to get down.

"Are you feeling better now?" she asked. I nodded in affirmation. "Alright, sure," she said, and set me onto the cold floor. Once she saw that I didn't fall back down right away, she took her attention away from me.

"The room is just down the hall," Eli said. He opened a door next to the reception desk, and we followed him through it. Opposing the last room, this hall was lit with luminous lights covering the ceiling. There were more doors on each side of the hallway, giving the strange impression of a hotel.

Toward the end of the hall, we found stairs that led down to a single door with what looked like an electronic keypad with numbers all over it. Eli walked up to the door and started typing in some numbers, I couldn't tell which, and I heard the near silent tumbling of locks on the door. He opened it.

"Now, I'm just going to drop you guys off here," Eli said. "I have something more important to do, so you can all wait here."

"Do you know what he's talking about, Bella?" She shrugged her large shoulders.

"I wouldn't know," she said. "When he took me out of the zoo, he was talking about meeting some guy named Moris, but that's all I could say."

"Alright, come in," he instructed us, and I dumbly followed everybody into the unlit room. Eli went in first, feeling all over the wall until he found the light switch. He flipped it on, and what I saw was astounding.

It looked, _surprisingly_ enough, like a big hotel room. A normal bed was next to the wall of the room, with a normal nightstand and lamp on top. A normal armchair was placed in another corner of the room, with a normal television hung on the wall. Of course, one would expect a normal carpet to be underneath all of this, right? Wrong.

Instead, there was no floor. The entire ground was just that; compacted dirt, sand and ground.

"What the hell is with the floor here?" I asked, completely mystified. I scooped a small chunk of it in my hands to see if it was real. It crumbled and fell back down. "Why is everything covered in dirt?"

"Accomadations," Bella said, finding a large empty spot in the room and lying down in it, taking up most of the space in the room. "It's for one of his pokemon, I'm assuming."

"What pokemon would need this?" Se looked at me and smirked, and my eyes widened in realization. "Oh God, you can't be serious."

"Oh, I just remembered," Eli said. He slung his backpack onto the floor and zipped it open. He fished through the pockets for a second and his hand popped back out with a pokeball clenched in its palm.

"Please, no," I pleaded to nobody. The ball opened, and my own personal little nightmare came out.

"Where am I?" Clyde dizzily asked. "Ooh, you're here, Grant! ...Why are you closing your eyes so hard?"

"It's not really here," I said to myself, "If I just believe, the monster will go away."

"Monsters? I don't like monsters," he said, his annoyingly innocent voice sounding scared. Realizing there was no hope that he wasn't really there, I opened my eyes and found Clyde's eyes staring back at mine.

"Goody," I said, "Another idiot to add to the bandwagon."

"Well, make sure you behave yourselves," Eli said to us, as he picked up his backpack again, "I need to go talk to someone for a bit." He surveyed the room one more time before walking out and closing the door.

We all sat in silence for a few minutes. I savored the few moments of peace, before Clyde had to ruin it.

"So, you're the reason why the floor is all dirt here?" I asked him He shook his head (or maybe his entire body, I can't tell which) in agreement.

"Eli made it this way so I would be able to come inside," he explained.

"This is all Eli's room? Weird… I don't know why someone would live in a place like this."

"I'm bored," Clyde said, completely changing the subject. Must be his ADD kicking in.

"Then find something to do," I groaned irritably. I looked at the large bed, and walked over to it. "I'm just going to try and sleep. If I can just get up onto this bed…"

Of course, being the one-and-a-half foot tall rock thing I was, I couldn't exactly jump up onto the bed. I tried climbing up by grabbing the sheets, but I didn't even get off the ground.

"Fuck, I hate being this short," I whined, causing an exasperated moan to come from the other side of the room.

"Why don't you just get over it?" said the floating ball of plasma himself, Elex. "All you've done is bitch and moan since we got you out of the zoo. I'm sick of it." I glanced over in his direction, where was scowling menacingly at me (or as menacing as a Rotom can look).

"Well, isn't someone a cranky little bitch today," I said, causing him to growl at me. "For your information, this isn't exactly how I pictured tonight going. I have a right to complain."

"Please tell me," he said agitatedly, "what will get you to shut up. I'll do anything if you would just shut up and let me relax." It was about this moment I started to hate him. Still, I thought for a moment before answering.

"How about, if you tell me what we're doing here and what exactly is going on, I'll be quiet. Okay?"

Bella glanced up and leered at Elex. She was shaking her head in a way that said 'do it and I'll crush your face.' Even Clyde was looking at Elex in a similar way. Nevertheless, Elex continued.

"Let's see… we're here because Eli wants to get himself involved in something he should have quit a long time ago." He sighed at this. "And he thinks you can help him somehow."

I glanced at the Rotom quizzically. "And what exactly does 'helping' entail?"

"Hell if I should know. I only know that he's searching for something, and he thinks that you would know where to find it."

"Well I have no idea what the hell he would want to find," I sneered. "Why me, anyway?"

"I think he said something about you being a reborn human or something." My jaw literally fell to the floor.

"How the fuck did you know about that!" I screamed. "How did Eli know about that!"

"Which leads me to my next subject," Elex said, chuckling slightly. "I think there's something you should know about him."

"Stop it right now, Elex," Bella interrupted, her voice thick with ferocity. "You've gone too far now."

"Oh come on, it's not like he isn't going to find out eventually."

"Find out what?" I asked angrily. Elex floated over to me and right next to my head. He then whispered something into my ear…

"WHAT?!"

* * *

"It's not like I'm waiting to be hanged," Eli whispered to himself. "I just need to knock on the door. I can do it."

Eli had been nervous when he walked out the door of his room. He felt claustrophobic in the elevator up to the fifth floor. He had been biting his lip so much that he almost drew blood as he walked to the door marked '305.' Now he had made it there, a simple walk feeling like an eternity-long nightmare. Now, all he had to do was talk to his superior.

Eli raised a rattling hand, and apprehensively slammed his fist into the wooden door in front of him.

"Hang on one moment," came an exhausted response from behind the door. While Eli composed himself, the sound of a chair scraping across the floor was heard, accompanied by footsteps.

The door opened, presenting a man who was significantly bigger and more muscular than Eli. He stood at least a foot taller than Eli, and muscles bulged out of his black jacket.

"Alright, now who…" the man stopped, and stared, dumbfounded, at the boy in front of him. "Eli? Is that really you?"

"Yes, Morison sir," Eli said, sounding braver than he was. "I came back."

"Man, I haven't seen ya in so long, boy!" Morison stepped out of the doorway. "Please, come in." Eli warily complied, and walked into the room.

Inside was a small office-like room, complete with the obligatory large desk with papers flooded over it, a computer, a small plant in the corner, and photographs of a happy family, presumably Morison's. Eli found a chair on the close side of the desk, and sat down in it.

_Why am I so nervous about this?_ He thought. _All I have to do is talk to him… I don't get why I'm freaking out like this._

"So, Eli," Morison asked, closing the office door and sitting in his chair on the opposite side of the desk. "What brings you back to Sinnoh? I thought you were doing field work in the Sevii Islands."

"Sir, I wanted to-"

"Oh come now, boy," he interrupted, "there's no need to be so formal. Just call me Morison."

"Uh, sure, Moris," Eli stammered out. "Anyway, I wanted to get my pokemon approved for the Expedition Project."

"Oh… good thing you came to me then." He pushed the cluttered papers to the side, making a clear spot in the middle of the desk. "I'm gonna need to see your trainer card and Pokedex.

"Sure, one second." Eli leaned over and zipped open his backpack. Out of it emerged in his hand a small metal box, which he set on the desk. "They're right in here."

He flipped the box open on its rusty hinges and took out a standard Trainer Card, complete with his photograph and other unimportant information, setting it on the desk. He then took out an old Pokedex that appeared dusty and discolored. However, instead of the normal red, it was painted blue. He set this on the desk as well, and closed the box.

"Here they are," Eli said, pushing them closer to the man. Morison took the Pokedex first and flipped it open. It emitted a 'ding' sound as the screen lit and cast a light on his face.

"Let's see here… I see you still have Elex, Clyde and Bella… that's weird."

"What's weird?" Eli asked, sitting on the edge of his seat.

"…You used to have six pokemon before, if I can recall," he said with a quizzical tone. "What happened to the rest?"

"They, um…" his expression changed to a downcast one, "I'd… rather not talk about that now." The man recognized Eli's feelings.

"Meh, don't worry about it. I don't really feel like hearing the story anyway." Eli smiled at that, and the man set down his Pokedex and instead picked up his Trainer Card. He did little more than look at both sides of it, and set it back down.

"Now, as for why you're here," he started to say. "You wanted to get a pokemon approved for the Expedition Project?"

"Yeah," Eli replied with a slow nod. "What exactly do I need to do for that?"

"Well, first off, I need to know what pokemon you want me to approve."

"It's a Larvitar."

Morison thought about something for a moment, then answered.

"As long as he isn't terminally ill or anything, it should be fine," he said. "Lucky for you, I don't really care too much about what pokemon come into this or not."

Eli stared at the man for a moment.

"So… that's it? No other exams or anything like that?"

"Nope," Morison said. He picked up Eli's pokedex one more time, pressed a few buttons on it, and then closed it and handed it back to him. "You're good to go."

"Oh, uh… thanks, then." Eli picked up his Pokedex and Trainer Card and placed them back in the metal box, which he put in his backpack again. "Thanks for your help with all of this."

"No problem," Morison said, standing up as well. "Good luck with this project. We haven't gotten any success in finding this thing for years; I doubt you'll get anywhere. But still…"

"Yeah, I get it," Eli said, picking up his backpack and slinging it across his shoulders. He began walking towards the door. "Bye, then."

"Don't get yourself killed," Morison said with a laugh. Eli laughed as well, but his was a nervous one. He walked out the door.

"Well, that was easier than I thought it would be," Eli commented, and walked down the hallway back to the elevator.

* * *

The door handle turned, and the entire door opened, revealing Eli with a weary expression walking in.

"I'm back, guys," he said. "Were you all…" He stopped. I was glaring him with an intense yet controlled look of anger inscribed on my face. He quickly noticed me, and knelt down to meet me at eye level.

"You okay, Grant?" he asked, sounding concerned.

"…So," I spat out, looking him square in the face. "You can understand me?"

He looked like he had been struck by lightning. His face flushed of all color and he nervously looked all around him.

"Y-you…" he stammered," you… know?"

"Yep," I said flatly.

"…Well," he said with a sigh, "…fuck."

* * *

**Okay, first off, as you may have noticed, Grant gets to keep his ability to read. So I'm breaking tradition; deal with it.**

**Now, here's the important thing. As you've noticed, my updates have been coming very slowly lately. Here's my blunt excuse. I'm really just too busy to be bothered by working on this story. All my animals at home, for one reason or another, have been needing extra attention lately, either because they're missing, have injuries, or we're preparing them for the summer 4H Fair. Plus, I have two major projects I have to work on for school, not to mention the craploads of daily homework, and the extra chores I've been getting. Mostly these chores consist of taking care of the animals.**

**Another thing, I don't often even have access to a computer so I can work on this. Most of the time, I just don't have a way to even type this. So, I'm really sorry to say this, but I think I'll have to end up putting this story on Hiatus for a while.**

**Now, before you make any assumptions, I want to make one thing clear: I do NOT, I repeat, do _NOT_, intend to stop writing this story altogether. I just really need a break so I can focus on what's more important now. I can't say when I'll update this again, just that I won't be for a while. I won't leave the site, you can still send me PM's and all that other stuff, so I won't be completely dead.**

**So, for now, you guys will just have to wait. Sorry... I just really need the time off. So, for the last time for now...**

**-Finalsmasher13  
**


	13. What Awaits Them

**Finally! Yes, I'm back, and my well-needed break is over. School is starting to dwindle down, most of my projects are over, and all my animals are doing better. So, I think that soon I can get back to a normal updating schedule. Look forward to that!**

**And just because I made you all wait so long, I gave you an extra long chapter. Happy reading!  
**

* * *

"Man, I can't believe this place," Tobias gawked, as he walked down the pier linked from the shore to his boat. "Everything's so… big."

"I have to agree with you there," Sam said, nodding her head. "I've never been in a city like this before."

The boat from the Sevii Islands had long since arrived at Canalave City in Sinnoh. All the passengers were forced to wait two hours for the workers to prepare the ship for docking and unloading, much to their displeasure. Once they were finally off the ship, they quickly decided it was worth the extensive wait.

The sun shone down brightly today on the city, few clouds visible in the blue sky. Tobias and Sam, followed by their pokemon, blended in well with the crowd of trainers flooding the city. Of course, they had the same reactions to their new surroundings as the others from their ship: absolute awe.

"I like it here," Lea said, "Everything seems newer here." He glanced down at Totodile. "What do you think, man?"

"It's okay," he stated simply, observing the city around him.

"Way to be social," Lea said, rolling his eyes.

"I disagree," Synth whined, plodding behind the small group, "there's too many people. I feel like I can get separated too easily."

"Well, that is one setback," Lea said from atop Sam's head, staring out from there as if she was a lookout post. "It's hard to see very far in front of us, even from up here.

"Doesn't that bother you at all?" Tobias asked, gesturing to the clingy Chimchar on Sam's head. "You know he's using you as a lookout post, right?"

"As long as he doesn't light my hair on fire, I'm fine with it," Sam said. She reached up and rubbed the pokemon on his head. "So, what are we doing today?"

"Well," Tobias began, "obviously, the plan I made yesterday is shattered because of this Plusle here. So first we need to visit the Pokemon Center." He unclipped the pink pokeball from his belt and held it up to Sam. "The nurse on the ship told us we should get Alana to the Center here as quick as possible so she can be taken care of."

"Alana?" Sam questioned, tilting her head slightly. "Is that what you named the Plusle?"

"Yeah, I just thought of it last night. Like it?"

"Yeah, it's good." Tobias put the ball back onto its previous holder. "Anything else planned?"

"I did make plans, but Alana changed all of it. I guess we can just relax here while we wait for some details about her."

"Meh, sounds fine to me," Sam admitted. "Do you have any idea where the Center is, though?"

"Not a clue." He made no effort to hide his ignorance, and Sam rolled her eyes. "We'll find it in a few minutes, probably."

An hour later, the group had arrived at the Pokemon Center.

"Well, here it is," Tobias said. He reached for the doors, but stopped when Sam's glare caught his eye. "What?"

"This place was about ten steps away from the port," she explained, pointing to the ship that had recently arrived. "You made us walk around the entire freakin' city."

"I didn't see it," came Tobias's lame excuse. Sam grumbled something, realizing any argument would only annoy everyone more. With a shrug, Tobias opened the doors to the Pokemon Center, with pink walls and air conditioning greeting them.

The center was relatively small, and as a result was relatively empty of people. One young trainer was standing in front of the main counter, talking to the local Nurse Joy. He formed the only line in the Center. Sam and Tobias walked up behind the boy and waited.

"Thank you, we hope to see you again!" the nurse said with an enthusiastic smile. The boy took a pokebll sitting on the counter and walked out of their way. Sam and Tobias walked up to the counter.

"Hello, and welcome to the Canalave City Pokemon Center," she said, in the same perky tone. "How may I help you?" Tobias took the pink ball from his belt and set it on the counter.

"Could you to look after my Pokemon for a little while?" Tobias asked politely, pushing the ball closer to the young woman. She took the ball and observed for a second, then set it back down.

"Certainly," she said, "But why not just use the healing machines?"

"Well, we found this Plusle when we were on the ship that just arrived here. We took her to the nurse there, but they couldn't do anything. She's been unconscious since we found her." For the sake of time, Tobias simplified the story. The nurse simply looked at the ball, somewhat perplexed.

"Come with me for a minute," she said, and walked out from behind the counter. Tobias and Sam exchanged glances, but quickly followed her footsteps.

She led them through a glass door and into a large room, with small stretchers lining the walls. Other small pokemon, most of them unconscious or sleeping, occupied a few of them. Each pokemon in the room had a few wires protruding from their skin, and a small heart monitor beeped to a tune like a metronome would. Nurse Joy stopped at an empty stretcher.

"This is where we care for the pokemon with more serious injuries," she said, pointing out the other pokemon in the room. "They're mostly the kinds that are too extreme for the normal healing machines."

"But the nurse on the ship said she was fine," Sam interjected, "just unconscious."

"I know." She pressed the center button and the ball snapped open, forcing a white light to form into Alana and materialize on the stretcher. The little Plusle was still unmoving.

"I can look after her here," the nurse said, looking down with a smile at the Plusle. "I can't really say how long you'll be waiting for her to wake up, though.

"The other nurse said it would be a few days." Tobias said.

"Oh. Well, you might want to find something to do with your time. You'll probably be waiting for a while." Tobias sighed at the words.

"Alright, thanks," he said, "I guess we'll be back later today."

"Have a good day, then!" She replied cheerfully. All of them walked out of the room, with Nurse Joy going back behind the counter to help another trainer, and Sam, Tobias, and their pokemon leaving the Center.

* * *

"So, what now?" Tobias asked. "I don't want to just sit around until Alana is better."

"I heard that this city has the most extensive library in Sinnoh," Sam suggested, gesturing behind her with her thumb. "We could go there."

"I didn't leave school just so I could read some more," he sneered. "No, I think maybe we should start training for our Gym Battle."

"Already?" Sam asked, surprised, "But we just got here a few hours ago."

"Yeah, but it would be more productive to get ready now. Just because Roark is the first Gym Leader, it doesn't mean we should take him lightly."

Sam thought for a moment, and answered. "Alright, fine," she said, "whatever'll pass the time."

"Good." He gave a quick glance around him. "Might as well try to find a trainer we can battle with."

"What, we're not going to just battle each other?"

"We just did that a few days ago," Tobias said. "Besides, we shouldn't practice against the same pokemon every time. We won't be prepared for anything else, then."

"Fine," she said, "Problem is, this is the city for the sixth Gym Leader in the region. I don't think we're ready to fight trainers that strong yet.

"Yeah, I agree," he said. "There might be some newer trainers coming from Jubilife City. Why don't we just go outside the city and try to find someone less experienced."

"How do you know so much about this place?" Sam asked him.

"I had been doing a little extra research at home. Just so we would be a little more prepared when we came here." Sam sighed to herself.

"Alright, then. Might as well try it."

* * *

"Alright, let's wait here," Tobias said.

They stopped in a small, grassy field outside of Canalave City. It was relatively peaceful; trees lined the clearing, as well as a route across from the field, and the ocean could be heard smashing waves against the shore in the near distance. Park benches were placed sparsely around the area, but only a few other people occupied them.

"Sure," Sam replied. She set down her backpack on the ground and sat on the bench behind her. As soon as she did, Lea climbed off of her head and rested in her lap. She smiled and pet his head.

"So, I guess we have to just wait here until a trainer decides to challenge one of us." Tobias sat on the bench next to her, with Synth lying down near his feet. "Hopefully we won't be waiting too long."

"Hey, you!"

Tobias and Sam both glanced up at the young boy walking up to them. He wore a short-sleeved red shirt and deep blue shorts. Just to complete the image, he wore a blue baseball cap backwards on his head.

"I challenge you to a battle!" he shouted, pointing his finger at them.

"…Well, that was relatively easy," Tobias admitted as he stood up and walked toward the kid, Synth following his footsteps.

"Not you," the kid sneered, "the one with the Chimchar!"

Tobias put on a surprised look, as Sam slowly stood up, Lea still glued to her head.

"Me?" she said, walking closer. "Sure, I'll battle you."

"But why her?" Tobias whined, "It was my idea anyway."

"Quit your pouting," she snapped, "If he wants to battle me, he can."

"Yeah, and I need an easy win, anyway." At this, Sam cocked an eyebrow.

"Wait, what's that supposed to mean?"

"You're a girl," he continued, "Everyone knows girls can't battle."

"Really?" She folded her arms across her chest. "Aren't you a cocky one? Maybe I'll just have to teach you a lesson, kid."

"Alright, fine! Go Lightning!" He plucked a pokeball from his belt and launched it into the air. It opened and flew back to him, and from the ensuing burst of light emerged a small black and white bird, chirping madly."

_That's a… Starly, right? _Sam whispered to herself. _I'm more used to Pidgey than that. _She shook her head, and put on a determined look.

"Okay, go, Lea!" The Chimchar jumped off her head and onto the ground, crying his species name repeatedly.

"Start with Tackle, Lightning!"

"Dodge, and use Ember, Lea!"

The small bird flew at a quick pace toward Lea. Lea nimbly stepped to the side, and the bird flew directly past him. Before it could get much farther away, Lea opened his mouth and a barrage of small flames emerged, bursting forward quickly into the Starly. They hit, causing him to cry out and crisping its feathers slightly brown, but he stayed airborne.

"Keep using Ember!" Sam ordered. Lea continued firing the small balls of flame at the Starly. However, this time it was able to speed out of the flames' path.

"Quick Attack!" The bird suddenly accelerated its flight, and divebombed straight downward. Too quick to dodge, he smacked Lea in the head. Lea yelped staggered backwards, but didn't lose his composure. Lightning landed in front of his trainer, awaiting his next order.

"Okay, Wing Attack!" Lightning jumped up and flew quickly towards Lea, wings spread wide, towards Lea.

"Use Scratch once it's close enough!" Sam shouted. Lea waited for Lightning to come close, then, just before the Wing Attack hit, swung his clawed paw down into the bird's face. It still collided with Lea, but could not successfully attack, and feel onto the ground.

"How 'bout we try this," Sam said to herself. "Throw him, and use Flame Wheel!"

The boy put on a nervous face as Lea grasped the injured Starly by the tiny neck and raised him to eye level. As he observed, three claw marks raked across Lightning's feathered head, each dripping small amounts of blood. Ignoring it, Lea wound his hand back and flung the bird into the air. Without enough time to adjust its wings for flight, Lightning fell straight back towards the ground after sailing a short while.

As the bird flew helplessly through the air, Lea unleashed a small, continuous torrent of flame from his mouth the magically wrapped itself around his body, turning him into a large fireball. Barely visible within the veil of the fire, and with unusually high speed, Lea dashed forward and slammed his fiery body into the bird before it collided with the ground, sending it careening wildly through the air. It slid into its trainer's feet as it hit the floor, hard.

"Come on, get up, Lightning!" the child commanded. The bird weakly stood up on its talons, but was clearly in no condition to fight any further. With a last cry, it fell again onto its front, wings spread across the ground.

"Augh! Why does the Starly always lose?" the trainer pouted. He held up the pokeball as the red beam absorbed the Starly and it disappeared. He clipped the ball onto its belt, but quickly replaced it with another.

"Maybe this'll work!" he shouted. "Come out, Ping!"

From the pokeball emerged another pokemon. It had a blue and white body with a large head, with tiny arms and feet. A small yellow beak adorned its mouth. Between its beady, black eyes. It chirped loudly, crying "Piplup!" repeatedly. Lea sighed.

"Oh, well isn't this just wonderful," he said.

"Oh, great," Sam sighed, "I hope this doesn't end badly."

"Bubblebeam, Ping!" The pokemon opened its beak wide, and from it came a think beam made of watery bubbles, more dangerous than they appeared.

"Watch out, Lea!" Sam warned. Lea saw the attack coming and jumped to the side, easily dodging the attack. "Try Fury Swipes!"

Lea started running towards the Piplup on all four limbs. Once close enough, he pounced on the pokemon, scratching furiously with its claws, leaving small short cuts each time in its skin.

"Bubblebeam, again!" With Lea locked onto her body, Ping had the perfect opportunity to fire a full-force, point-blank Bubblebeam into the fire monkey's face. Obviously in pain from the super-effective hit, Lea was launched off of Ping a ways across the battlefield, clutching his face as he slid on the ground.

"Come on, Lea! We're not gonna let this kid win, are we?" Lea slowly climbed back up onto his feet, still showing signs of stamina.

"Haha! Bubblebeam, again, Ping!" the opponent laughed.

"Doesn't that pokemon know any other attack?" Sam yelled, as yet another surge of bubbles flew through the air towards Lea. "Whatever, just dodge it! And use Ember!"

Lea ran to the side of the beam, avoiding it without much difficulty. He then shot his own flames from his mouth. These, being much faster than the bubbles shot at Lea, quickly collided with Ping, causing it to yelp, but not inflicting much damage.

"Try to get closer, Ping, then use another Bubblebeam!" The pokemon rushed as fast as its tiny feet would allow, gaining ground quickly on Lea. In response, Lea shot more of his Embers at her; she continued straight through them, barely slowing down. Once it was only a few feet away, its beak flew open and out shot a fast barrage of bubbles. Lea tried to dodge, but the attack caught his side, sending him sprawling across the ground in pain.

"Come on, get up, Lea!" He slowly composed himself, standing on the ground, still ready to fight. However, he looked exhausted and was panting heavily. He couldn't take much more.

"Flame Wheel!" Was Sam's simple command. Again, Lea let loose a jet of fire which surrounded his body. He began running forward, albeit at a slower pace.

"Get back, and use Bubblebeam one last time!" the young trainer ordered. Following its command, the Piplup jumped backwards, foam leaking from its mouth. Quickly, it let loose yet another jet of watery bubbles at the speeding fireball that was Lea.

The bubbles slammed into him, easily dissolving the surrounding layer of fire and halting the attack. Ping's attack continued, however, and hit Lea in his stomach, forcing him to stop and keel over in extreme pain. He fell flat on the ground, and when he did not get back up, Sam knew he had lost.

"Yes! I won! I won!" the trainer screamed, giddy out of his mind. "I knew I would win!"

"Dang it," Sam responded, taking Lea's ball and recalling him into it. "I can't lose to some kid this easily…"

She turned around, looking pleadingly at her last resort. Totodile had been sitting on the bench next to Tobias, watching the battle intently. When he saw Sam return a gaze, he averted his eyes.

"Come on, Totodile," she said, "could you please just battle for me?"

Totodile did not bother looking up. He hadn't thought about battling recently; after Reese, he wasn't sure how he could fight for another trainer, no matter how badly he was treated before. He only sat on the bench, thinking.

"Come on, just get in there, Totodile," Tobias attempted to persuade him, "you need to start battling again, and this is your chance."

All eyes were on the small crocodile, including the opponent's. He chuckled at the situation.

"If you're not going to fight anymore," he said, "can you just forfeit and give me the prize money?" Sam glared at him, and turned back around to Totodile.

_I have to get in there for her… _Totodile thought.

"Are you really sure you don't want to?" Sam asked, her voice dropping in disappointment. Still without a decision, Totodile did not move. Sam sighed, in both disappointment and embarrassment at her loss.

_She'll hate me if I don't… just like Reese did…_

"…Fine, kid," she admitted. "You win."

_Why should I care though? Reese doesn't mean anything to me anymore… I know what happened to him. He can't do anything to me…_

The opposing trainer unclipped Piplup's pokeball from his belt and pointed it at the pokemon.

"Rrrgh... fine!" Totodile shouted. He flung himself off of the bench and ran in front of Sam.

"Really?" Sam asked, her expression lighting up like a Christmas tree. "You'll do this for me?"

"I have to," he sneered. He focused his attention on the Piplup in front of him, placing a threatening grimace on his face.

"Man, and I was just about to win, too," the kid on the other side of the battlefield sighed. He clipped his pokeball back onto his belt. "Okay then, use Pound, Ping!"

The penguin pokemon ran towards Totodile, one small arm spread to its side.

"Um," Sam stammered, "what attacks do you know…?" The Piplup continued closer.

_She's taking too long,_ Totodile mused after a few seconds of waiting. _Might as well do this myself._

The Piplup had closed the gap and swung its arm forcefully forward in a Pound attack. Before it could hit, though, Totodile widened its jaws and snapped them onto its arm. It cried out, and Tododile released it, pushing the penguin back a few feet.

"That was great, Totodile!" Sam marveled at the simple attack. "Okay, use, uh, Scratch!"

"Dodge it, Piplup, and use Bubblebeam!"

Totodile pounced forward, his claws clenching and unclenching menacingly. Piplup ran to the side, avoiding the attack, and fired a Bubblebeam attack at Totodile. He took the hit without flinching, then jumped again at Ping, who was not lucky enough to dodge this time. The claws scraped her face, causing her to stagger back.

"Try another Bite attack!" Sam commanded, starting to learn Totodile's moves. He jumped yet again at the Piplup. This time, he was able to grab its head in his flaring jaws, digging his teeth into its skin and shaking its like a rag doll.

"Ah! Use Peck!" The boy screamed, nervous of the situation. With a surprisingly decisive move, Piplup struck its small beak into Totodile's tongue harshly, causing him to shout in pain and spit the penguin out. Red gashes in the shape of teeth marks adorned its neck like jewelry.

"Finish this with Water Gun!" Sam shouted. The Piplup, dazed from the Bite, was delayed in recovering its stance. Totodile took the opportunity to charge the attack, building up the water in his stomach until foam began to seep from his mouth.

The opposing trainer realized the danger, and thought of his own "unique" way to counter it.

"Stop the attack with another Bubblebeam!" Totodile would have laughed, if not for the readied Water Gun he held.

_Stupid,_ he thought, _he's an idiot to think that would ever work._

Totodile released his fully-powered Water Gun. A jet of the liquid, thicker than he appeared to be capable of holding, burst from his mouth, firing straight toward the near-defenseless Piplup. In response, it fired its own Bubblebeam to counteract the Water Gun.

Instead, the Water gun popped every bubble in its path and slammed full-force into Piplup. Being weakened by everything else, Ping dizzily fell to the ground, too exhausted to continue, and fainted.

"W…what?" the kid stammered, staring at his fallen Piplup in disbelief. "I lost?"

"Yes!" Sam exclaimed. She ran up to Totodile and knelt down to him. "You did great, boy!" She began petting him on the head.

"…What are you doing?" the little crocodile asked. He stayed still for a moment, and then pushed away from Sam's hand.

"Oh, don't be grumpy, Totodile," she said. "We won! Be happy." Totodile stayed there for a moment, and then walked away, as if nothing had ever happened.

"It was an easy battle," he stated. "You're too enthusiastic." With that, he walked back over to the bench where Tobias and Synth stayed and sat down in front of it.

"What's up with him?" Sam asked herself, unaware of his words. Shrugging it off, she turned back around. The kid she had beat had already recalled his Piplup and was walking disheartened toward Sam, a small was of bills in his hand.

"Here," he sighed, placing the money in her palm. Sam smiled and took the money without hesitation.

"So, you think girls can't win?" She said, enjoying every minute of his embarrassing loss.

"Please don't rub it in," he asked. Sam chuckled and pocketed his fee, and he walked off, hanging his head low.

"So," Tobias said, as he stood up and approached Sam, "you did pretty good there."

"Thanks," she said, accepting the compliment, "but Lea and Totodile did all the work."

"Well, they both did great, too" she said. She took Lea's pokeball from her belt, kissed it, and placed it back again. "I don't know what Totodile's problem is, though."

"He's probably still a bit shaken up from, uh… you know. I'm sure he'll come to his senses soon."

"I guess so," she said, looking at the pokemon. She sighed, but decided to drop the subject. "So, what do you wanna do now?"

"Might as well go back to the Pokemon Center," he said, looking back to the gate to the city. "I wanted to check up on Alana, anyway."

"Sounds good to me," she said. She picked up her backpack, which she had set on the ground before the battle started, and started walking. "Totodile, come on. We're leaving."

"You too, Synth," Tobias said. The Grotle stood up and stretched his body, then began to follow the two. Totodile stood back up as well and walked with Synth in the trail of Sam and Tobias.

"You know, you've been awfully quiet recently," Synth said to Totodile as they walked. "Why is that?"

"Don't talk to me," snapped Totodile. He subconsciously clenched and unclenched his tiny fists.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked, sounding genuinely concerned. "You just won a battle. You should be happy."

"It was too easy. There's no reason to be excited about it."

"Seriously, just cheer up. You really need to smile sometimes."

"Battling isn't fun for me anymore," Totodile suddenly said.

"What?"

"I hate battling. After Reese started training me more intensely, battles became horrible and stupid. I don't care if I have a new trainer; I'll always hate this."

Synth simply stared at the Totodile, confused.

"Well, I don't know how you're gonna go through this journey, then. You know we're taking the League Challenge, right?"

"…You don't get it." Synth shook his head, and stopped talking. He sped up to match Tobias's pace, but Totodile stayed a distance away from the group.

* * *

It was currently nighttime. The lamp cast artificial light throughout the room, as the dimly lit street lamps outside the single small window shined more brightness into the place. The room was relatively cramped as of now; Bella, lying on her front, stayed half asleep in what would be the corner of the room, if her bulk didn't force her to take up most of the space. Elex was in the same state of consciousness as Bella, and floated immobile in another corner. Clyde, easily tired, was fully sleeping somewhere underneath the dirt floor, undisturbed.

I was leaning against the front of the bed, leering though Eli as he knelt down to meet me at eye level. He had been locked into that position for about a minute now since he returned to the room, averting his eyes from mine.

"…Well?" I asked, after a short while of silence, "Are you gonna say something?"

"…I'm hoping not," he finally said with another sigh. He stood up and walked over to his bed, plopping down on top of it.

"Why the hell would you not tell me you can understand Pokemon?"

"I have my reasons," he said somewhat casually, quietly yawning.

"For what fucking _reasons_ would you hide this?" I hissed.

"None of your business," he snapped. "Now can you please just go to sleep? I'm stressed enough as it is."

"You can't just shrug off something like this! You're going to give me some answers right _now!_"

"_Some_ of us are trying to sleep," grumbled an irritated Elex from the corner of the room. His eyes were still closed,

"Oh good, you're awake again," I stated sarcastically.

"You know, you did tell me you would stop making so much noise if I told you about this."

"_You_ told him?" Eli shot up into a sitting position and leered at the floating ball of plasma. "Why would you do that?"

"Come on. You can't be so naïve that you thought he would never discover it eventually," he continued. "Besides, it's late, and I was tired, and he promised he would be quiet if I said something." He took the opportunity to glare at me.

"I never specified how long I would stay quiet," I stated. Elex grumbled something under his breath, undoubtedly some form of cursing, and folded his 'arms' across his body.

"Now," I said, turning toward Eli, "tell me why you can understand me."

"I don't think I will," he said, yawning again.

"And why the hell not?"

"Because it's something personal to me," he said. "And I don't need you exploiting it from every possible angle."

"What, so you think this isn't personal to me?" I shot back, "You think that I want everyone to know that I used to be human?"

"…Wait, you what?" he stammered, sounding surprised.

"Don't try to pretend," I spat. "I already know that you know that much about me."

He directed his weary expression at Elex. "You gave that away, too? Don't you know when to stop talking?"

"_SNORE!_" he shouted at us, angrily, still not opening his eyes, but letting them twitch occasionally.

"Would you at least tell me why you know about me?" He stayed silent for a few moments before sighing deeply.

"Fine," he finally said. "Bella told me about it." He gestured with his thumb to the Tyranitar, and I quickly spun around to meet her face.

"I asked you to keep this a secret, Bella!" I yelled accusingly.

"_Snore_…" she said, just like Elex.

"Come on, this is important!" I demanded. "Is there anyone you haven't told?"

"I've only told our friends, Grant," she said. "Only the ones I trust won't spill it. Just relax."

"_Our_ friends?" I snapped, "So far, I'm not exactly too fond of these two over here." I pointed to both Eli and Elex.

"So be it," Eli said. He yawned again, and continued. "Still, I have a right to know. Since I'm the one who broke you out of that place, I think it's only fair that I get to know something about you."

"But… but how is that fair to me?" I whined. "You get to know everything, and I have to stay in the dark?"

"Yes, I realize it was unfair," he said, "but I had a cover to maintain. I wasn't supposed to tell you about this ability of mine."

"But why-" that is when I was suddenly interrupted by a large green hand wrapping around my mouth.

"Forgive me for sounding rude, Grant," Bella said, "but look around you. Everyone here is trying to sleep, and you're only serving to irritate us." She lifted her hand from me an inch.

"But what about-"

"Sssshhh," she whispered. "We all need rest for tomorrow. So just be quiet and sleep." She closed her eyes delicately, her arm still glued to me.

"You can't tell me what to do!" I protested. Grunting in response, she covered my mouth again with her hand. She then dragged me into her side and forced her arm around me tighter, being sure to thoroughly eliminate the possibility of me opening my mouth.

"Mmmph!" I cried, the only noise I could make with my mouth smothered.

"Thank you, Bella," I heard Eli chuckle. She smiled, as he rolled over onto his side and flipped the light switch into the "Off" position. The light instantly flickered out, as the room became enveloped in night.

"Good night, Grant," she said sweetly, and craned her head around and kissed me on the forehead. If I could do anything in protest but grumble, I would have, but I quickly found that all I could do was breathe heavily through my tiny nostrils.

And then there was silence.

With nothing better to do, I took the moment to observe my current situation. Trapped in a dark room, with dirt instead of floor, surrounded by a human who can understand pokemon, a Rotom, an brain-damaged Diglett, an over-protective Tyranitar, and basically incapable of speech.

_What has my life come to,_ I ended up thinking.

* * *

Slowly, oh so ungodly slowly, night melted away and the sun started to rise above the towers and buildings of the city. Sunlight peered through the window and illuminated the room. At this point, I was still the only one awake.

By this point, I realized that I never did completely go to sleep that night. I zoned out a few times, but that was the extent of my rest. In case you've never been in a similar situation, it is a bit hard to sleep when you can barely breathe. Through two negligibly-sized holes in your head.

Somehow, Bella had kept me trapped for the entire night, despite being asleep most of the time. So when her arm suddenly lifted from my face, I gasped as long as I could, getting air into my small, deprived lungs.

"Oh God," I wheezed, "I can breathe again."

"Well, good morning to you," Eli said, kneeling down next to me and sounding out of breath. "And don't be so melodramatic."

"…What exactly are you doing?" I asked him. He was pushing Bella's arm off of me and setting it gently on the floor. Of course, he was having trouble, with the limb weighing as much as it does.

"Trying not to wake anybody else up," he said, breathing through his teeth. He finished moving her arm and set it on the ground. Bella had barely moved, and was still asleep.

"So, now that you're up," he said, clapping a bit of dust off of his hands, "how about we talk?"

"Talk?" I said skeptically. "Um… why?" He sat down on the floor next to me.

"Just listen," he said. "I know you think I've been unfair to you after you found out about me."

"Of course! "All you've-"

"Aap ap ap," he said, putting his hand over my mouth. "You don't want to wake anyone else up." I rolled my eyes and nodded. "Good." He moved his hand away."

"Anyway, like I said, I had a cover to keep up," he whispered. "I'm not supposed to let anyone know I can understand you, neither people nor pokemon. Bella, Clyde and Elex already know because I've been with them for a long time and I trust them."

"Okay, I get that," I whispered as well, "but what gives you the right to know so much about me while I know nothing about you?"

"I don't have the right," he replied. "Look, I was going to tell you about this at some point. Once I knew you could be trusted with this, I would have told you. But, since you already know, you have to make sure you don't tell anyone else."

"Why can't you tell anyone though? Seems to me like it would be more beneficial to you than harmful."

"You don't get it. There are _a lot_ of things that could go wrong if I were to be discovered. Now, you don't trust me, and I don't entirely trust you. But you have to keep this only between everyone in this room. Please?" I sighed in response.

"It depends," I said. "If a situation arises where blackmail is necessary, don't think I won't stoop that low." To my surprise, he started to laugh. "What's so funny?"

"You really don't want to test me, Grant," he said. "You don't know what I'm capable of. If you try anything, I will teach you a lesson."

My heart skipped a beat at those words. I hadn't heard Giratina's words in what seemed like an eternity, but they had the same creepy effect as when I first heard them.

"…You okay?" Eli asked, as I returned to consciousness. I guess I had zoned out for a minute.

"Uh, yeah," I said. "What were we talking about?"

"I have the same question," another tired voice said, yawning. Behind us, Bella woke up and turned onto her side to see us.

"Oh, good morning, Bella," Eli said cheerfully. "How are you?"

"Good, since I didn't have an annoying little voice nagging me all night." She smiled and wrapped her arm around me. "How did you get away from me, anyway?"

"Would you quit grabbing me like that?" I complained, and pushed against her arm. As usual, I got nowhere."

"So, when are we leaving?" she asked.

"We're going somewhere again?" I whined. "Where now?"

"We're going to Oreburgh City," he said. He stood up and walked back to the bed, picking his backpack up off the ground and setting it on the sheets.

"Let me guess: another city in this region?"

"Yep," Bella said, "almost on the other side of Sinnoh."

"What?" I said in disbelief, "on the other side of the country? How the hell are we supposed to get there?"

"You don't know?" Eli asked, shoving his laptop into his backpack. "There's a new subway system that opened a few months ago. It runs through the entire region, and supposedly goes so fast that run from one side of Sinnoh to the other within twelve hours." He placed something that looked like a pokeball in the bag. "I already have a ticket for it, so we're going later today."

"Well, that's wonderful an all," I said, "but why exactly are we going there?"

"That's where the first pokemon gym in Sinnoh is. Wouldn't it be any trainer's first stop?"

"…What is that supposed to mean…?" I cautiously asked. I could see where this was going.

"Oh, I thought you would have figured it out," he said. "We're taking the Pokemon League Challenge."

* * *

**So, there you have it. Don't worry, the next update will come a lot faster than this one.**

**-Finalsmasher13  
**


	14. The Start of the Journey

**So I bet you're wondering why this update has taken so long. Well... so am I. Mainly, it's because my laptop crashed about a month ago and hasn't even been able to turn on without freezing. Until that's fixed, I've had to use the family's much slower desktop, which I have barely any time on anyway. Most of the time that I've had on it has been spent trying to finish this chapter.**

**So, sorry to those I've disappointed, and sorry tothose I haven't been able to contact recently. I don't want to sound like I'm making excuses, but I really have had very little time on the computer. Sorry.**

* * *

Chapter 14: The Start of the Journey

I could only stare at Eli, dumbfounded at his last sentence. He continued packing his bag, as if the information was nothing important at all, and left me standing there with my jaw hanging slack halfway from my face.

"What do you mean we're taking the Pokemon League Challenge?" I asked, bewildered. A few seconds passed, and he stopped packing and zipped closed the back pocket of his backpack.

"I mean that we're taking the Pokemon League Challenge," he said plainly. "Travel around Sinnoh, get badges, all that stuff everyone always wants to do.

"I didn't even think you were a trainer," I said. "I thought you were just some normal person who worked at the zoo. My mistake."

"Well, maybe you should wait before you judge people like that," Bella added, with a hint of a smile.

"Okay, we're going to leave in just a minute," Eli said, after a few seconds of silence between everyone. He picked up his bag and slung it onto his back, wrapping the straps around his shoulders. He then walked over to the center of the room and started mysteriously tapping the floor with his foot.

"What are you doing?" I asked. He held up his index finger, and after a few seconds, a hole appeared in the dirt floor and the familiar little brown mole I know all too well popped out of it.

"What's goin' on?" Clyde asked with a yawn, although I wouldn't know where the yawn had come from. He looked up to the window and winced at the light piercing his unadjusted eyes. "Oh, morning already?"

"We're leaving in a minute, Clyde," Eli said, causing Clyde to turn around to see him. He placed his hand into his pocket and took it out with a pokeball in its palm. "Sorry, but you're gonna have to go back in your ball for a little while." The usual glint of hyperactivity and happiness in his eyes faded a bit.

"Aww…" he said dejectedly, tilting his head down. "But I wanna do something fun…"

"We can later, Clyde," Eli said. He then pressed the button on the ball, and the red light emerged, sucking the Diglett into the ball.

"At least I won't have to deal with him today," I said, smiling a little. I received no reply from anybody. He put the ball back into his pocket, and moved on.

"Now to get this one awake," he said, directing his eyes at Elex, who was still hovering inches above the ground in the corner of the room. Although it was now light out, the wall was tinged a very slight blue from the light emitted from his electric blue aura. Eli walked over to the ghost and began clapping his hands next to him.

"Come on, wake up!" he shouted, but the pokemon only snored again. "Alright, we'll do this the hard way." He scooped a small clump of dirt from the floor into his hand, stared at t for a moment, as if contemplating something, and then nonchalantly tossed the dirt at his face.

Immediately, a short shower of sparks burst from Elex's body, as the dirt was fried by the electricity on his skin, accompanied by repeated crackling and popping noises. It didn't take long for him to wake up this time. He yelped for a second or two, and then turned around to see Eli with his hand still held out, and a few specks of dirt still attached to it.

"Oh good, you're up," Eli said, and hung his hand back down again.

"The hell was that for?" Elex cried in response.

"I had to wake you up somehow," he said.

"You couldn't think of anything less extreme?"

"I tried clapping, and that didn't work. And if I tried to shake you awake, you would have shocked me."

Elex opened his mouth to defend himself, but realized he was beaten, and stopped. "Don't do it again," he grumbled.

"We'll see," Eli said, smirking to himself. "Now that everyone's awake," he turned to face all of us at once, "we need to go. The train leaves in an hour." He looked the room over one last time to make sure he had remembered to get everything, confirmed he did, and turned around and opened the door. "Come on."

Bella nudged me with her foot, and we began walking.

"Thank you," she said, as Eli held the door open for us. She, Elex and I went through the door, and it was closed behind us.

Because that room was descended farther down than the hallway, we had to travel back up a short flight of stairs. Eli had no problem walking up them; of course, I had trouble; because I was so small I had to climb my way up each step.

We made it to the top, and Eli was looking at me with a smirk, trying to keep from laughing. Probably because I looked so pathetic trying to climb up them, and that I was out of breath afterwards.

"I don't like stairs anymore," I concluded, glancing back at them. "It was easier getting down them."

"Do you want me to carry you?" Bella offered.

"No," I said defensively, and climbed back up to my feet. "I'm fine."

"Don't think you can do everything, Grant," Bella advised, "you _are_ still only about a week old."

"Yes, I'm aware," I grumbled. Once I regained myself, we continued walking through the hallway. I had to walk faster to keep up with the pace of everybody else.

We continued down the hall, walking past the tall doors (well, tall to me) tracking a trail of dirt across the floor from Eli's room. With new brightness, the hall did not seem as ominous and haunting as it had yesterday. However, just as before, there was still nobody there for us to meet. At the end of the hall was the door we had come in from before. Eli opened it for us, and we walked through it.

Here, things seemed different. It was much brighter in the room this time, with fresh sunlight flowing in through the wide glass doors and few windows, as opposed to the dreary darkness of the place last night. The plants in the room seemed to have more life to them, and the marble floor and walls brightly gleamed at us.

We walked across the room, where Eli swung open the giant glass doors to the outside city. The chilled morning air blew across my thick skin, as we walked out onto the sidewalk, which was dotted with a few people, but not many; most were probably inside, due to the early morning hour.

Instantly I shivered, feeling the full intensity of the cold air.

"Damn, why is it so cold now?" I wondered aloud, rubbing my arms in a feeble attempt to stay a bit warmer.

"What did you expect?" Bella answered for me, as we walked with Eli onto the relatively deserted sidewalk. "Sinnoh _is_ the coldest region on the planet."

"But it's summer! I'm used to the ninety-something degrees it was yesterday, not the five degrees it is now," I whined.

"Suck it up," said the floating ghost ball thing, "It's not like you're not gonna die from it." I turned around and gave him a sharp malice-filled glare. "Sorry, too soon?" His voice contained only a mocking sympathy.

"Don't joke about that," Bella said harshly, shushing him. "So, Grant, how is it to finally be out of that zoo?"

"Eh," I commented, my focus concentrated on the unfamiliar, giant towers and buildings surrounding us.

"Just 'eh?' I thought you would enjoy your freedom a bit more than that," she replied.

"Well, I can't exactly call it 'freedom' because that damn pokeball keeps me bound to Eli," I said, still beholding the giant clustered buildings and roads, "so I'm pretty much still trapped either way."

Eli glanced down at me with a questioning look on his face, but said nothing. With people surrounding us now, I assumed he didn't want to risk revealing his secret by talking to us, so he only listened.

"I would've expected you to be a bit more thankful than that," she said, crossing her arms together.

"Thankful for what?" I said, "That I now have to travel through a foreign region with a bunch of people and pokemon I barely know? It's not exactly my definition of fun."

"Don't look at it like that. Think of it as… the adventure you would have gone on," she offered.

"You know, if you didn't get killed," Elex added. This time, Bella swatted at him with her arm, and he dodged it by an inch. "What was that for?"

"Stop being so harsh," she said curtly.

"I am not harsh… just blunt," he admitted.

"Either way, just be quiet. It'll make it easier for everyone."

"Fun Nazi," he commented, before silencing himself.

"As I was saying," Bella continued, "you're still going on a pokemon journey, like you wanted to. Just, not exactly how you imagined it."

"If this journey was _anything_ like I wanted it, then I would be in Johto right now, have clothes, and not be two feet tall!"

"Actually, I think you're only about a foot and a half."

"_Thanks for the reminder,_" I said spitefully. "But this is nothing like how I would have wanted it. It's all just going to go downhill from here, I just know it."

"So… are you saying you would have rather stayed at the zoo?"

I sighed. "I don't know. So far, this situation is a bit too overwhelming to judge right now." I paused, and sighed again. "I mean, that place was your home, wasn't it? I don't see how you can be so excited to leave."

She was about to say something, but suddenly stopped, taking a few seconds to think about something.

"I can understand your position," she eventually said. "It was hard for me to leave Lexus behind, and it's all a bit sudden for me, too." She sighed as well, and stopped for a moment, thinking again about what to say, before continuing.

"You know what just happened?" she said, looking straight down at me. "You were talking to me about your feelings."

My eyes snapped open wide, and I immediately had to defend myself.

"What? N-no I wasn't!" I cried, waving my arms in front of me like I was protecting myself from an imaginary attack. "I would never."

"Tell yourself whatever you need to," she chuckled. "It's not really that bad, is it?"

"Yes, it is!" Bella laughed again, and I made sure to look away from her, to avoid any other possible conversation.

"Don't be so modest, Grant," Elex said, sneaking up behind me and talking into my ear, "I think it's kind of cute."

"Would you get out of here?" I swatted at him, and he effortlessly moved out of the way.

Everyone finished their chuckling quickly, and then we were quiet. As we followed Eli further into the city, filled with the skyscrapers and giant towers of buildings, more people emerged from them, ambling about on the streets and sidewalks. One thing I noticed easily was the complete lack of other pokemon following their trainers. I t made me stand out even more among the giant city of towers and skyscrapers, and I felt even more uncomfortable there.

We continued on in silence for a few minutes longer, until…

"Alright guys, we're here," announced Eli.

"This is supposed to be a train station?" I said, scanning the building. "This looks nothing like what I imagined!"

"It's a subway station," Bella reminded me. "Most of it is probably underground."

This 'building' stood out among the others nearby, for the fact that it was so much smaller than the others. Granted, it was relatively large, but it was only one story high, had a pair of tall, automatic glass doors, and the walls were mostly covered with large windows, allowing the huge mass of people bustling inside it to be seen. Planted on the wall was a sign that read, "Linking Sinnoh through Technology! The Underground Rail." In parentheses below that, it said "Pokemon Welcome!"

"Seems like the kind of cheesy sign someone would put in a video game," I said to myself after reading it.

We walked further up, the electronic doors automatically opening for our presence, and proceeded inside the place. Inside, many people were standing in excessively long lines, at the front of which was a long desk where a workers in blue uniforms sat and handed out tickets to those who paid. Those who were not standing in lines were either walking and talking to people in the room or busily bustling down a wide flight of stairs on the other side of the room, which most likely lead underground. The people who cared to notice us mostly stared dumbstruck, obviously at the unusual Tyranitar that they had probably never seen before.

"It's a good thing I already bought a ticket for us," Eli said, as he conjured a little strip of paper from his pocket. "I'm sure we don't want to wait in that line, right?"

"How did you get a ticket already?" I asked, knowing he wouldn't respond with the crowd of people encircling us.

"There is this wonderful new invention called the Internet," Elex responded for him, in his trademark sarcastic tone, "you can buy and print tickets off of it."

"Oh, right," I said. "I probably should have known that."

We continued walking, until we stood in front of the stairs. Looking down the gigantic flight, one longer and deeper than I ever thought stairs would go, the walls and ceiling slowly disappeared, and faded into rock, until the rest of the place was more cave-like than the building it was supposed to be.

"Great, I just haven't had enough stairs yet," I sighed. I tentatively moved my foot down onto the first step, and nearly tripped falling onto it. Another new hatred I have of this extremely small body; it's way too complicated to do simple, supposedly easy things. Considering the distance from one stair to the next is close to my own height, I must _fall_ to go down stairs. I can't walk down them; I have to methodically _fall_ down them.

"Be careful, Grant," Bella warned, as she stepped down slowly, matching my pace to be sure I would be safe. Somehow, her massive feet managed to cling to the stairs, which were tiny by comparison, although giant from my view. "You don't want to trip all the way down."

"I'll be fine," I said, with an intentional tone of annoyance, as I made my way down the next few steps. It didn't take long to notice the eyes of passersby boring into me, and I heard more than a few people laughing at my pathetic expense.

"God, this is demeaning," I groaned, as I climbed down onto another step.

It took us about ten minutes to clamber down the entire length of those stairs. And when I say 'us,' I mean Bella and I, as Eli and Elex didn't take their sweet time like I did, and were waiting at the foot of the steps for us to get there. When we finally did, we didn't waste any more time waiting; Eli said the train was going to leave within fifteen minutes, and we needed to hurry.

Here, everything looked a bit more like I imagined it. Long, bright lights stretched down the length of the cavern, illuminating every seeable square inch. At a few points ahead were junctions from which more paths branched out, lending to the feel of a maze. Above each of these junctions hung an identifying sign, including a number and the name of some city or town that I had never heard of. Scrambling through the place were giant bunches of people, some leisurely walking and some scrambling in a hurry to their destinations. And yet, barely any other pokemon were there with their trainers.

"Okay, this is new," I commented, as we proceeded further into the cavern and looked about the huge room.

"We're looking for the one that leads to Oreburgh City," Eli said, his eyes darting between each of the dangling signs every few seconds. "It should be the sign with the big four on it."

We walked for a few more minutes, scanning for the correct sign among the many hanging like Zubat from the ceiling. It was actually placed oddly towards the back end of the path. We followed it through.

This smaller section looked close to the main hall; the only major difference was a short line of people handing their tickets to another person in a blue uniform standing inside a booth, and continuing their walk ahead toward another turn, ahead of which I couldn't see. Eli quickly joined the back of the line, while I stood directly at his heels.

The line advanced relatively quickly, as each person cycled through the same monotonous routine: they handed a ticket to the person in the booth, he stamped it, handed the ticket back to them, and they walked ahead. Soon it was our turn, and we had Eli's ticket stamped and ready within seconds by the man stuck inside his post, who looked, frankly, like he had woken up too early for his job.

And then…

"Sir," the man said, as we started walking off towards the next area, "you need to have that pokemon in its pokeball."

Eli stopped and turned to look at the person. "I thought pokemon were allowed in here," he replied, a bit of irritation already seeping into his tone.

"The Tyranitar could be considered a threat to the other passengers," he stated plainly, "now you have to recall it back into its pokeball."

Eli only stood there for a few more moments, then sighed and took out her pokeball from his pocket. "Fine," he said, bristling somewhat, and enlarged the pokeball. "Sorry, Bella."

She grumbled something under her breath (that sounded like it was supposed to be a swear word, but I couldn't tell which) and sighed as Eli recalled the Tyranitar back inside her tiny pokeball. The man turned to the next person in line after making sure we did what he said.

"Looks like it's just us," Eli said, after a second. He continued walking around the bend, and Elex and I followed him. On the other side of it was something I had never seen before.

Living on an island, I had never used, or even seen, a train. So, the first one I would ever see naturally blew me away. It was covered entirely in white, faded by the dirt and rock that it was surrounded by, with a blue stripe adorned on its side. It was separated into five cars, each with an open door chopping the blue stripe in two, plus another car at the front with a giant, thick glass shield for the conductor to see out of.

I tried not to display my amazement, but an involuntary 'wow' escaped my mouth.

Yet another person clad in a blue uniform stood taking tickets from each person who stopped and handed them to him, and stepped inside the train. One of these people dotted each of the entrances into the thing, helping a short line of people that hastened inside once their ticket was gone. The line for the middle car was the shortest, so we went to that one. By the time we got there, the line was gone, and we immediately handed the ticket to the man and hurried inside.

"You know, if they were just gonna take the ticket anyway, why did they have to take the time to stamp it?" I wondered, not noticing that I was even saying it aloud. All the same, no one replied anyway.

But the thought was lost entirely within a few seconds as we entered the machine. Inside it seemed much fancier than the setting would imply. Red upholstery seats jutted out from the walls in rows of three, with enough room between the outermost seats for a carpeted aisle down the length of the car. At the end of the room was a plain-looking door with a wide window set inside it, which was the least amazing part of the place, since I was too short to even open the door or see through the glass pane. Again, another 'wow' was automatically blurted from my mouth.

We weren't the first ones there, obviously; people were sitting at most every seat in the room, and we were hard-pressed to find an open seat. Luckily, there was one more row of seats, completely free of passengers for us to take.

"How convenient," Elex remarked flatly, as Eli slid into the seat closest to the wall and set his backpack onto the floor, while I clambered onto the seat in the middle of the row. I'm not sure if Elex is even capable of sitting without a lower body, but he floated an inch above the seat, about as close to sitting as he can come.

I scanned the room again, combing with my eyes to see if there were any other pokemon in here. For some reason, although I assumed most pokemon were allowed here, I didn't see even one besides us anywhere. I only cared so much because I felt even more out of place than I normally do, without any other pokemon in this place.

"…So…" I trailed, waiting for something to happen, "why do you think there aren't any other pokemon around here? …Elex?"

He thought for a second, then said: "Probably because most trainers want to travel through Sinnoh on foot, rather than take this lazy-ass method," he responded, chuckling to himself.

"Oh," I said dully. I continued waiting for something to happen, but my excitement was drained and replaced with impatience within a few minutes.

"Why won't this damn thing go anywhere?" I whispered angrily to myself. "I expected this to be a bit more fun than-"

There was a hissing sound, and the door slowly closed itself. With it closed, I could see that it had a window embedded in it as well.

"Finally," I said.

"Good morning, passengers," said a crackled voice emitting from a speaker in the ceiling. "This is the conductor speaking. We are about to depart from Veilstone City to Oreburgh City. The trip will take around five hours to complete, so just relax and we hope you enjoy your trip." The speaker beeped, and then shut off.

"Five hours? I can't sit here for that long!" I complained.

"Shut up," Elex snapped at me. "I thought you were excited for this just a few minutes ago."

"That's before I knew how long I'd be sitting here."

"What did you expect to be doing the whole time?"

"I don't know! Just something more amazing tha-"

_RUMBLE. _The ground vibrated beneath us.

"The hell was that?" I said, looking around wildly for a cause. Another hiss was heard in suit of it.

"Relax, it's just the train starting up," Eli said calmly. I suddenly felt stupid.

The hissing was soon replaced by a _whirrrr_ as the machine began to move. From my low angle, I could see the rock ceiling of the cave slowly leaving us outside the window on the door of the train. Soon, it was entirely gone, and all light that the train itself didn't make was cut off, and it became somewhat darker inside.

As the train increased in speed, I was forced against the back of my seat, and it took at least a minute for me to get used to the speed we were traveling at.

"Folks, we are now on our way to Oreburgh City," cackled the speaker again. "I would like to remind you all that this is about a five hour trip to the other side of the country, so again, relax and enjoy your trip."

We were on our way.

* * *

"Where is she?" he grumbled, as he paced back and forth within the cave. "It's not like there are that many places to hide here." He flipped over a relatively large rock and looked underneath it, despite that he knew there was no possible way she could fit there.

"Bella said she would be gone the other day because Eli needed her, but I thought she would be back by now." He glanced around once more, and sighed. "Even Grant is gone, too." Giving up, he stalked out of the cave, shielding his eyes from the morning sunlight with his arm. "First she tells me to let her spend time with my son alone, and then they both disappear! This isn't like her at all."

"What are you screaming about now?" said a groggy, female voice behind him. The Aggron spun around to see the one speaking to him, and was surprised to meet her eyes.

"Good morning, Nida," he said, not nearly as cheerfully as the greeting would imply, and turned around again to scan futilely around the dirt arena. The Nidoqueen gave a questioning look behind him, and walked over to his side.

"What's the matter?" she asked sweetly. She noticed he was glancing around the pen, and glanced with him, without a clue what she was supposed to find. "Looking for something?"

"Some_one_. Bella's completely disappeared, and I can't find her anywhere. And Grant is gone, too."

"What? That adorable kid of yours is gone too?" she said, without belief in her voice. "My gosh, that's terrible."

"Yeah," he breathed solemnly. There was a short silence that followed, then Lexus said, "Do you have any idea where they would be?"

"This place isn't big. If they're not here, then the only reason I would think of is if the workers took them out for some reason."

"What reason would there be?" He asked.

"Not sure. I just hope they're okay. I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to either of them."

"…Yeah," he said flatly, and continued to think about the situation, and of all possible reasons the two pokemon could be missing. He filtered through all of the few possibilities that he could think of in his head, and discarded each as sounding ridiculous. However, although he knew the chances of it were slim, his mind settled on one unlikely option, and wouldn't settle for any other.

"What if…" he began, "they… were able to escape?"

"Oh, I doubt that," Nida said, eyeing him incredulously, "I think they keep this place pretty secure, especially after the accident with that kid here about a week ago."

"It's not impossible, though. They could have figured out a way to get out somehow, and then just ran away."

"Then what reason would they have for doing that?"

"If I knew, I wouldn't be talking to you right now!" he snapped. His mind had settled on this notion that they had escaped, and he was already thinking about how to find and get them back to the zoo.

"…Well, even if they did, where would they go?" she said reluctantly, due to his yelling. "This isn't a very big island, and someone would notice a Tyranitar running around."

"I don't know!" he shouted, throwing his thick arms into the air. He stayed silent for a moment.

"…I'm going to go find them," he said finally, and turned around to see the edge of the exhibit. Only a small plethora of people were walking around at the early morning hour, and only a fraction of those few people were even watching the pokemon in the area.

"What do you mean?" she asked, her voice showing growing concern for the Aggron.

"I'm going to leave and find Bella and Grant. I doubt they would have been able to get off the island, so it shouldn't be too hard.

"Okay, now you're just delusional! You can't just waltz out of here that easily!"

"They can't stop me," he snorted ignorantly. Despite Nida's warnings, he proceeded onward to a spot concentrated with no people, so as not to harm anybody, his tail beginning to shimmer a silverish-white color.

Those people standing nearby noticed the creature's advance, and immediately ran in fear of what was going to happen. Standing in front of the tall guardrail, he spun around and slammed his tail into it, crushing the metal like tissue with a loud impact. Screams and shouts immediately began to resound from the area, and he simply ignored it, stepping over the wreckage without hesitance and walking ahead.

"God, what is wrong with him?" Nida said grumpily to herself. This would be dealt with soon, she thought, so she simply decided to watch his actions.

The determined Aggron continued stomping through the place like the intimidating giant he was, scaring all away from him whenever he came close. However, it was not long before he met resistance. A short man, at least short compared to him, ran up through the crowd of evacuating people, holding a pokeball in his hand. He wore a yellow shirt with the word 'STAFF' written in large letters across the front.

"Gastly, stop him!" he cried, as he thrust the ball into the air. The ball opened, and out of it emerged a small, black and purple sphere-like pokemon, with gigantic, devilish-looking eyes and a cloud of purple smoke surrounding its body like an aura.

Lexus had thought nothing of the small ghost, and began to stomp right by without bothering to challenge it. Before he could make it more than a few steps, though, he noticed something happening. The cloud of smoke surrounding the pokemon suddenly began to expand, and float towards Lexus' head.

"What are you doing?" he said, as the cloud began to envelop his body further. He turned to face the pokemon, who was grinning creepily at him, and sticking its tongue out occasionally. Still not seeing the point, he continued walking where he was going.

The gas continued to cover him though, most of it concentrated at his head, forcing him to breathe it in with every breath he took. After a few seconds of it, Lexus began to cough, slowly at first, but then rapidly increasing in intensity.

_What is this stuff? _he wondered, and, noticing its effects starting to manifest themselves, tried to stop breathing it. But due to what was already in his lungs, he automatically coughed again, forcing him to inhale more of the toxin. He looked at the Gastly one more time, saw the same evil smile painted on its spherical body, and growled at the thing, not being able to do much else.

He then found himself becoming lightheaded and dizzy, stumbling about in a random circle, as shapes and colors began to blur together in his vision. Completely disoriented by the poison, he slowly lost his balance, and toppled over onto the ground with a loud impact. He tried pushing himself up, but he felt his strength had been completely drained, and he couldn't move anywhere.

"Someone get this thing's pokeball!" shouted that same staff member to another. "Good job, Gastly," he complimented, and stood over the half-unconscious Aggron, as if triumphant against it, and the scared people began to calm down. The purple-tinged cloud of toxic gas shrunk and faded as it was drawn back into the Gastly's body, as it wasn't necessary now that the pokemon was incapacitated.

"Why can't I do anything?" Lexus grumbled to himself, as he repeatedly tried to get up and run away, but found himself unable to. Within a few minutes, someone had returned with his pokeball, and he had completely discarded any notion of escape.

"Thanks," said one of the workers, likely the one with the Gastly, as he took the pokeball from the person who had brought it for him. Lexus winced as the red beam touched him, and he was forced into his pokeball.

He was dropped into the blank, curved room of the pokeball, where he could only sit and slowly allow the poison inside him to finish taking its effect, and fade into unconsciousness. However, he did managed to understand wisps of the conversation outside of his cell:

This is starting to get out of hand," said one of them, with a voice denoting a bit of weariness. "I mean, first we have that incident with the Totodile here, then we have three pokemon disappear, and now a fourth one trying to escape!"

"Yeah, it's crazy," the other one said. "I don't get what's going on in this place." He paused, and then continued: "I just noticed something. All of these things have been isolated into the Rock-Ground section. Kinda weird, I think."

"I guess so. We'll have to see if we can find out what's been going on there."

He listened to a few more simple, needless exchanges before tuning them out. He did, however, learn one thing from that short conversation: the zookeepers did not know how Grant, Bella, and the third missing pokemon had disappeared. There was a possibility that they _had_ somehow escaped.

At this point, his strength completely faded, and he fainted.

* * *

**Ha! And you thought he wasn't goinjg to be in the story anymore!**

**-Finalsmasher13**


	15. Face Off: Part 1

**9577.**

**That's the number of words this chapter was comprised of before I split it in two. Seriously, this one gave me so much trouble in the end... but I'm sure you don't care about that, and just want to read what I've made you wait about two months for.**

**I'll have some explanations about my inability to update at the end of the next chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 15: Face-Off (Part 1)

I would love to describe how fun and exciting and amazing my trip across the region on the train through an underground tunnel was. Honestly, I would. But can't. The trip was just so unbelievably _dull_ that it destroyed any feelings I may have had about it beforehand.

There was absolutely nothing to do but mindlessly sit there for the entire five-hour duration of the ride. There were no windows to look out of – but even if there were, there wouldn't have been anything to look at - so I could not focus on anything but the back of the seat in front of me. For whatever reason, I couldn't force myself into slumber to take up the time, although everyone around me seemed to be able to do, including Elex and Eli.

And to top it all off, I was reminded constantly by stomach, (about every three seconds), that I had yet to eat anything since the night before, and I was starving. And there was absolutely nothing to eat there, not even any dirt to choke down.

When we finally arrived, my ass was so sore from sitting down for so long that I could barely walk, and not a single one of those impatient assholes in there hesitated to trample me over on their way out.

The point is, I now absolutely _loathe _that stupid box-on-wheels that they call a train.

Anyway, once I finally regained full feeling again, Eli, Elex and I stepped out of the train and started our way out into the city.

The station looked identical in every way possible to the one in Veilstone City: the hallways, walls and ceiling were made of stone in various shades of such exciting colors as brown, gray and black, and the navigation was relatively the same: one large hall through the center, with other hallways branching out to the side, and a giant set of stairs at the front of the main hall. Nothing of major interest happened on our way out (except for another embarrassingly pathetic attempt at climbing up a staircase,) so I won't explain in detail. At the top of the stairs, we entered another small, normal room with gray tile floors and ceiling, and glass windows to look out from. We spent no extra time in there, and immediately left that place.

"Finally, daylight," I praised, entirely relieved as we walked out into the city.

"Drama queen," Elex contemptuously declared, as he crossed his lightning bolt-shaped appendages across his front.

"You can shut up. I'm just glad to be away from that stupid train."

"We just got here and you're already complaining about everything," he grumbled, rolling his exaggerated eyes. "This is going to become normal, isn't it?"

"Would you two quit bickering for two seconds?" Eli interrupted, with a scowl aimed at both of us. Elex muttered something under his breath, then stopped talking. Afterwards, he took two pokeballs from his pocket, and opened them both simultaneously. The first released Bella, who materialized lying on the ground, her eyelids leaving a barely visible gap through which her weary eyeballs peered out. I assumed she had just woken up from sleep, and her ensuing yawn confirmed my suspicion. Lucky her.

Clyde, finally able to stay out with the rest of us, emerged next to me. His head was lilting to the side, and he was snoring, obviously still asleep. Lucky him.

Bella opened her mouth to speak, but the speech was replaced with another yawn that she couldn't suppress. She looked in all directions around her and sniffed the air, for whatever reason.

"So, we're here," she said obviously, and I fought the urge to scream the word 'duh' in her face. She glanced down and noticed me.

"Oh, there you are," she said. "Almost didn't see you. So how was your trip here?"

"It was dreadfully dull."

"Good," she chuckled. I rolled my eyes.

Eli walked over next to Clyde, and nudged the Diglett with his foot. He stirred, and quickly blinked his eyes open.

"Finally! I didn't think we'd ever get here," he chimed ecstatically, as if he had never been sleeping. I don't know how he appeared so awake, and I'm not going to torture myself by wondering.

"Now that everyone's here," Eli continued, "we should get going. I'm not really sure how to get the gym from here, and I don't want to waste too much time."

"We're going to the gym?" I asked incredulously. "Already?"

"We're not actually going to battle the Gym Leader," he clarified. "We're just going to practice."

"And by that you mean…?"

"Each Gym has Gym Trainers you can battle with for practice against the Leader. They specialize in the same type, so it makes good training." He stopped for a second to contemplate, and then said, "If I remember correctly, I think this one specializes in the Rock type."

I gave a nod to show that I understood. "Good; now, let's get going." Bella yawned once more and stood up behind us. A thought distracted me for a second of how Bella and Clyde were essentially exact opposites after waking from sleep, but it was quickly dismissed. Once she was ready, we began our trudge through Oreburgh.

A few minutes passed uneventfully, and I decided to entertain myself while walking along by observing everything this city had to offer. From what we passed by, I could at least tell that Oreburgh was an industrial city. There weren't too many houses, but a few buildings with the appearance of factories were clustered together, and the whole area reeked of gasoline and diesel fumes. Smoke rose out of those factories from smokestacks, and drifted lazily into the sky, slowly fading away into the clouds. Giant heaps of black gravel and stone were littered about those factories like the common empty can or piece of trash I often stepped on, which the ground was seemingly blanketed with. The entire city was encompassed by rough hills and small, craggy mountains, which looked like they were only there to trap people inside with the choking fumes. There weren't any obvious roads, but tracks from construction vehicles were imprinted into the ground. Not a great amount of people were walking outside, but those who were didn't seem as cautious around us as those from Veilstone, which I found to be more mysterious for these people.

"Well, this is certainly an… interesting place," I commented, still glancing at everything in the city and trying my best not to breathe in the thick fumes.

"Why don't the people put their trash away here?" Clyde innocently asked, dodging a can of soda with a small puddle of unidentifiable drink underneath it. "I don't think it's very nice."

"What are you, a Public Service Announcement?" I scoffed, and I steeped in that same puddle. It was sticky, purple, and wouldn't get off of my foot. "Yes, I get it, karma. Thank you"

"How much further is it to the gym?" he inquired again.

"I don't know," I said sharply, annoyance already seeping into my voice. "I've never been here before, so how should I know?"

"Excuse me," Eli called to one person who was walking alone, down the same road as us, "do you know where the gym is for this city?"

"Uh, yeah," he said. "Just walk down that street and turn left, and the gym should be the giant place at the end." He pointed his makeshift directions to us as he recited them.

"Thanks," Eli said, and we parted ways. "And you're welcome," he said again, aiming the statement at Clyde and me. I felt embarrassed that he had to ask for me, but the feeling soon died down and was forgotten.

We walked down the aforementioned path, and at the end of it stood one of the biggest buildings I had ever seen. The outside looked relatively bland; it was painted a dark gray color, like of a stone, and in giant letters the word 'GYM' was blatantly scribed on the front. The roof was comprised of a dome shape, and big, glass doors, like the kind I've seen everywhere so far, made up the entrance.

We proceeded inside.

The lobby walls were made of bland, gray stone, and there was no floor; just dirt, so Clyde could safely come in with us without being forced immediately back into his pokeball. A lone woman acted as the receptionist and sat behind a normal desk with a computer, which seemed more out of place here than I would have thought.

"Where can we find the training room in here?" Eli abruptly asked the woman. She tilted her eyes from her computer and scanned our group for a few brief seconds.

"With that Tyranitar, I doubt you'd need too much training," she chuckled. If rock pokemon could blush, I guess Bella would have in that instant. "It's down that hallway to the right."

"Thank you," he said, and we started down the direction she indicated.

The hallway was made out of the exact rock as the rest of the building, and decorated with small, yellow lamps attached to the walls that illuminated the otherwise dark passage. At the end of it we emerged into a small stadium, which translates out into a wide room with two battlefields placed next to each other, each fashioned with white paint into the outline shape of a pokeball. It was entirely empty, aside from two teenage boys, one standing on one end of each field. The one closer to us noticed first, and walked up to greet us.

"Are you here for training?" he asked quite bluntly, and Eli nodded in response. The boy looked only a few years younger than Eli, sporting a gray, long-sleeved shirt and jeans, matching the theme of the gym. It was the definition of bland, but I didn't bother paying any mind to fashion sense (or, lack thereof) for long.

"Okay, it'll be a simple match with two pokemon each." He pointed to the opposite end of the stage. "You stand over there. Oh, and my name is Darius," he quickly added.

We walked to the place he specified. There was a small rectangle made of the same white paint the rest of the stage was identified with, which Eli stood in, while the rest of us stood just outside that rectangle. The opponent stayed inside a similar rectangle on the other side, ready to begin, with a determined look on his face. In contrast, Eli looked relatively relaxed, not perturbed in the slightest.

"Man, how long has it been since we last had a real battle?" he wondered aloud. Before he could mutter anything else, he was interrupted by Darius.

"Go, Geodude!" he shouted, and thrust his pokeball into the air. The ball snapped open mid-flight, and from it emerged his Geodude, which would be better described as a hardened lump of shit with arms. It screamed its name like a battle cry, and punched one hand into the air.

"Why do they have to be so dramatic?" Eli wondered again. "Clyde, you're in," he said with a nonchalant demeanor, and the little mole's eyes sparkled.

"Yay! Fun time!" he cried, and raced into the field in front of the Geodude.

I remembered then how Clyde was able to beat Totodile so easily back at the zoo a few days prior, and it occurred to me that he was probably much more powerful than he looked. I had a confident feeling the battle would end quickly.

"Tackle it, Geodude!" commanded Darius. The Geodude compliantly lunged forward at Clyde, tucking its arms against its body.

"Dig, Clyde," Eli commanded as well, in a much less serious tone than was customary for battles. Clyde vanished under the ground in an instant, leaving empty space for the Geodude to tackle. It landed face first in the floor, rolled forward a bit, and then started frantically searching about for his target, a grumpy frown plastered on his face. While he was distracted, Clyde sprung from the ground and slammed his head into the Geodude's side. The hit sent the thing flying back to his side of the arena, howling in pain.

"Don't just take it! Rock Throw!" ordered his trainer.

It magically pulled two rocks out of the ground, hefting one in each arm. I was momentarily distracted with wonder over how the thing managed to pull those rocks out of nowhere, and if I was able to do that too, seeing as how I was of the same type. But I came back to my senses quickly, to see the Geodude launching one of the rocks straight at Clyde.

"Dodge it," said Eli, and Clyde deftly moved to the side, and the rock easily missed. He threw the other rock with the same result.

"Keep using Rock Throw!" the opponent continued, and like a machine his Geodude gained more rocks of various sizes from the ground and assaulted our Diglett with them.

"Try to get closer, but keep dodging them!"

With each rock thrown, Clyde evaded, while inching closer with each miss. He probably could have told him to use Dig to a similar effect, but now I think Eli just wanted to show off. Soon, he was into the opponents face, and still unharmed.

"Now, Mud-Slap, Clyde!"

"Dodge it!"

It wasn't quick enough, however. The Diglett lowered his head into the dirt, then slung it back up, launching a small clump of mud straight into the Geodude's eyes. The Geodude rolled back, from the pain of the supereffective hit and the stinging pain in his eyes.

"Get back, Clyde, and use Magnitude!"

Clyde dashed backwards a few paces as ordered, and through some unseeable maneuver, he sent a small, isolated wave of rumbling earth toward the opponent.

"Urgh, Defense Curl!" shouted the trainer in desperation. Still unable to see, the Geodude crossed its arms over its body to fortify itself, and was struck with the Magnitude. It screamed in pain from another supereffective attack, and held both arms against the ground, breathing heavily.

"Try another Rock Throw!"

The Geodude managed to focus enough to launch a few more boulders at Clyde, but he dodged them with greater ease than before.

"One more Magnitude should do it," said Eli to Clyde, his version of a command. As before, Clyde sent a small quake at Geodude, and it did not even make an attempt to dodge. It was struck with the full force of the attack and rolled over onto its back, unconscious.

"Dang it… return," said Darius, somewhat irritated, as he raised up the Geodude's pokeball and recalled it back inside. He placed that on his belt and retrieved a second one from it.

"Pretty good," he said, complimenting Eli, "But let's see how well you do now. Go, Onix!"

He opened this pokeball, and from it emerged a giant, serpentine creature, its body comprised of a linked chain of boulders. Although gigantic from my view, it looked like it was a much smaller than a normal Onix would be, and I wasn't too impressed, despite the mighty roar it gave after it emerged into the arena.

"A Geodude and an Onix," I mused, "never heard of _that_ team before." I received no reply.

"Clyde, come back," Eli said, to my surprise, and the little mole came racing back. I glanced at the trainer incredulously

"Why are you taking him out?" I questioned. "He has a type advantage against the Onix."

"I'm trying to test everyone," he replied, but in a soft whisper. "It's been too long since everyone here had a real battle."

"Still a stupid decision," I commented. Clyde was back within seconds, and he sat down next to me.

"That was fun!" he said gleefully, nearly bouncing from the excitement. "I don't think that Geodude was having fun, though."

"I'm sure it wasn't," I said uncaringly; he was already starting to annoy me again. His voice just seemed to have that effect.

"Elex, your turn," Eli said, cutting into our exchange. The ghost let out an audible groan in response.

"Do I have to?" he pouted, crossing his 'arms' together.

"Yes, now get out there," Eli replied. Elex released another strained groan, then floated out into the arena. He scanned the opposing Onix for a second, and shrugged.

"All right," he said, almost with a yawn, "let's get this over with."

"If we may finally start," Darius said, "then use Screech, Onix!"

The Onix snapped open its maw, and a piercing drone emitted from his throat, resounding in our ears almost painfully. Elex winced at the sound, and I covered my tiny ears as well.

"Shadow Ball!" Eli yelled, barely audible over the Onix's scream. Elex thrust his 'arms' forward, and between them, a small glob of some kind of black energy grew out of nothing, and enlarged to the size of his head. The ball was launched forward and collided with the Onix's open jaw, and it began screaming for a new reason.

"Rock Throw, Onix!"

The Onix quickly retaliated, its eyes forming into a slight scowl, and slammed its tail against the ground. The force of it (or for some other reason I couldn't identify) forced a small bunch of boulders to leap from the ground. It slammed the boulders repeatedly with its tail, launching each one straight toward Elex.

Instinctively, Elex darted away from each of the projectiles as they were fired. However, one boulder managed to escape his attention, and as soon as he looked up to see it, he was struck hard with the rock, and knocked down onto the ground.

"Ugh, that hurt a little," Elex grunted, as he slowly floated back up. His face contorted into a scowl, and he glared sharply at the Rock Snake pokemon.

"Try Confuse Ray," Eli commanded. The Rotom's eyes glowed a dim yellow, and a small, equally toned orb of light materialized in front of the Onix's face. It floated immobile for a moment, then literally, abruptly, exploded, the blast flashing an entire spectrum of colors within a period of seconds, and just as abruptly faded away.

It seemed to have no effect at first, but the Onix began to wobble in place, and leaned to its side, ready to topple over.

"Come on! Try another Rock Throw!" his trainer ordered, and I could already see what would happen. The Onix raised its tail shakily, and thrust it forcefully downward. Instead of hitting such an easy target as the ground, however, it slammed the tail into its own midsection.

"Now, Double Team," Eli commanded.

Elex, with a wry grin spread across his face, closed his eyes, as if to focus, and spread his 'arms' apart. At the tip of each one, a puff of red smoke burst, and the smoke formed into an illusory copy of him. From each copy another copy was made, and from them another, until at least twenty of them were swirling about in the Onix's vision.

It had managed to gather boulders for a Rock Throw attack, but, already confused, the Onix could barely tell where each Elex was, let alone distinguish which was the real one, and began blindly tossing rocks at the copies. Most of them missed by a mile, and those lucky ones that did not only destroyed a copy.

"Another Shadow ball, Elex." Each copy made the motion of forming a Shadow Ball, but only one actually fired. The disoriented rock snake couldn't tell where it came from, and released a grievous roar when the attack landed.

"Focus! Iron Tail, Onix!" yelled Darius. Its tail began to glow a bright silver, and the Onix, with a look of anger, swung its steel-hard tail into Elex.

Or, so it thought.

Rather, it swung its tail straight into its own body, and groaned in extreme pain from the self-inflicted supereffective attack. It wobbled severely back and forth, and then finally collapsed onto the ground, fainted.

"Finally, that's done with," Elex said, as his clones quickly faded away to nothing, and he descended back down next to us.

"Dang it," said the trainer again, and he recalled his Onix and placed the pokeball onto his belt. With a strained sigh, he walked away from his rectangle and towards us.

"Well, you win," he told Eli, congratulating him. "You'd probably do pretty good against Roark with those pokemon."

"Thanks," he replied, and scratched the back of his head, as if embarrassed. "Can I still have one more battle with the other Gym Trainer?"

"You still think you need more training?" he replied with a bit of disbelief. "If you feel you need to, just head over to the other arena." He pointed with his thumb to the other stage across the stadium. "The other one's name is Jonathan."

"Good. Thanks for the match," Eli said. The kid replied 'you're welcome' and left the place, probably to heal his own pokemon.

We walked the few steps over to the next stage, and the trainer there approached us. He looked younger than the other one by a few years, but wore a similar style of clothing. In fact, the two looked like they could have been brothers.

"You did pretty good against him," Jonathan, as Darius said his name was, complimented. "I may not be much of a challenge after that display, but I'll do my best."

Eli nodded in response, and they each made their way to their respective white rectangles. Jonathan took a pokeball from his belt and held it readily.

"So, I guess you're going up now, Bella?" I said to her. She tilted her head down at me, with an insouciant look on it.

"Nah, I'm not doing any battling now," she replied indifferently.

"Really? But Clyde and Elex have already gone, so if you're not then… wait, you can't mean that-"

"This will be a simple match with one pokemon each," said Jonathan from his side of the stage. He launched his pokeball into the air. "Go, Bonsly!" The ball opened, and from it emerged a small pokemon that looked more like a small brown tree, with beady eyes and three green orbs adorned atop its head.

"Grant, get out there," Eli said coolly.

"You can't seriously be making me battle for you!" I protested. "It's not right!"

"Come on, Grant, it's your turn." A hint of frustration began to seep into his voice.

"Don't be so immature, Grant," Bella said, nudging me with her foot. "You can do this."

"You can't make me," I asserted. She chuckled, and knelt down.

"How many times must I prove it?" She wrapped her hand around my head spike and moved her face close to mine, radiating a pleasant smile. "You're powerless against me."

She lifted me off the ground and planted me in the arena, with me writhing and kicking helplessly the whole time. She stepped off the field, leaving me to face the midget tree myself.

"Sorry about that," Eli said. "He's just a bit nervous."

"You can't do this to me!"

"That's fine," he replied. "Okay, start it off with Headbutt!"

The Bonsly immediately lowered its head, and charged forward in my direction.

"Iron Head, Grant!" Eli ordered.

"Iron What?" I turned around for a brief second to give him an incredulous look. "I don't know how to use-"

My next word was replaced with a yelp of pain, as the Bonsly rammed its head into my side. I was sent flying across the arena and landed sliding on my back, the jagged surface of the ground scraping into my skin.

"Ah, that hurt…" I crooned, as I staggered back onto my feet. My back was already deeply cut, and I could feel its fiery sting every second.

"Another Headbutt, Bonsly!" Johnathan commanded. It ran backwards to give itself more room, then tucked in its head and ran forward again.

"Dodge it, quickly!" Eli commanded. I had a second to notice that he had become more serious now. Since there was no better option, I complied.

I jumped to the left, and the Bonsly barely missed slamming into me. I landed on my stomach, and pushed myself off the ground.

"Quick, use Bite!" Eli yelled.

"I'm not gonna _bite_ that thing," I moaned. "That's disgusting!"

"Well do _something_, you idiot!" Elex said irritably, "before it-"

It Headbutted me in the back.

The pain was even more intense now, and I flopped onto the ground a few feet away. I could barely move, let alone stand and fight, and my stamina was practically depleted. I breathed heavily as I forced myself up.

"How am I losing so easily to this _thing?_" I grumbled, as I shakily rose to my feet. I momentarily lost my balance, and nearly fell over again.

"Grant, just listen already!" Eli barked, "you're making this worse for yourself!"

"I'll do what I want," I hissed. He threw his arms in the air in frustration.

I had to think of some kind of strategy to defeat this thing. I wasn't going to embarrass myself by losing my first battle, no matter how much I hated doing it, especially against something as pathetic as a Bonsly. I had studied Tyranitar and its evolution family before, so I knew most of the attacks I should have been able to use. I quickly thought through all of them, and settled upon one to use. It was a relatively ineffective attack against another Rock type, but it was the best choice for the situation.

"If I could just figure out how to do this…" I shoved my hands into the ground, and focused. I knew that somehow, there had to be a way to make a boulder or something from the dirt. I've seen every other Rock type do it, so why shouldn't I?

"Grant, what the hell are you doing?" Eli shouted. I ignored him.

"Low Kick, Bonsly," Jonathan said, and it started charging forward again.

_This has to work,_ I thought, _I know Larvitar can use Rock Slide, I just need to figure out how this works._

I focused as hard as I could, and squeezed my hands together under the dirt. I felt something inside them; it was compact and somewhat soft, but I knew that it had to be a rock or boulder. The Bonsly was close, and about to attack. But I grinned, knowing he wouldn't be expecting this.

"Take this!" I screamed, and I jerked my hands from the ground. I looked at them, and to my horror, there was nothing in my hands, save for a small clump of brown dirt that slipped onto the ground.

"W-why didn't that work!" I looked up to see the Bonsly inches in front of me. Suddenly he appeared more dangerous to me, and my decisive grin turned to gape of horror.

Once it was close, it swung its leg underneath mine with more force than I thought it could exert. I flipped over and landed hard on my back, and the pain spread like fire through my small body. The supereffective hit had finished it. I moaned one last time, out of both pain and sheer frustration, and fainted.

I had lost.


	16. Face Off: Part 2

Chapter 16: Face-Off (Part 2)

Sam and Tobias were busily scanning the shelves of the cramped Poke Mart, shoving Potions and other items into a shopping bag they borrowed from there. The store was relatively empty, but the blue walls that held the building together made up for the lack of claustrophobia; the store was so small, the two trainers could barely fit into the aisles together.

"How much more stuff do we need to get?" Sam asked impatiently. She had her arms folded across her chest with the shopping bag hanging loosely from her wrist. They had been inside the store for over half an hour already, and she was ready to leave as soon as possible.

"What's with the tone?" Tobias replied. "I thought girls liked shopping."

"Not all of us," she simply stated. "Plus, this place is too claustrophobic for shopping, anyway."

"Whatever. Just put everything you think we'll need in there," Tobias instructed. "I should have enough starting money to pay for it." He picked an Antidote off the shelf, observed the can for a moment, and put it in the bag Sam was holding onto.

Meanwhile, Lea, Totodile and Synth followed their trainers through the aisles of the store, trying to find their way between the shelves without being pushed into them.

"Are we almost done here?" whined the Chimchar, as he gazed longingly at the glass doors to freedom. "How much of this crap do we actually need, anyway?"

"I'm sure we're almost done, Lea," Synth said. "Be patient."

"Patience sucks," he grumped, then redirected his attention towards Totodile, who silently waited at the heels of his trainer. "What about you?"

"Hm? What about me?" Totodile replied quietly, without so much as a glance in Lea's direction.

"You've been silent since we arrived here."

"So what?"

"It's just kinda weird, that's all," Lea explained. "I mean, just lighten up a little. I thought you got over the whole zombie phase when we left the Sevii Islands."

"Yeah, sure," he replied in a nonchalant, unattentive tone, and continued to survey the shelves without real interest, avoiding the eyes of the other two pokemon who followed him. Lea gave up the conversation and stood next to Synth.

"Man, what's his problem?" He whispered to the Grotle, covering his mouth with his hand so as to block off sound.

"He told me that he doesn't like battling," Synth explained in a statement of equally diminished volume. "I'm sure he'll get over it."

"I can hear you perfectly well," hissed the subject of their conversation, and they immediately silenced themselves. With nothing else to do, they were forced to wait for Sam and Tobias to finish their shopping. Only a few moments later, Tobias spoke up.

"Alright, I'm sure we have enough now," Tobias said, and a sigh of relief flowed out of both Sam's and Lea's mouths, as they anxiously awaited leaving the small store.

They went to the front of the store, where a single clerk stood looking bored across a blue counter with a cash register planted in front of him. Sam and Tobias placed their items across the counter, and he took each one, examined it, and pressed some buttons on a computer next to him. The computer displayed the total amount due, and Tobias reached into his pocket, took out a wad of disorganized bills, and flipped through them and picked a few out, handing them to the cashier. He took them and placed them in the register, returning a few coins back for change. After they were done, Sam and Tobias opened their backpacks and placed their items inside, then closed them shut, returned the shopping bags to the cashier, and walked outside, lugging the bags across their backs.

In the few hours since Sam's battle, the sky had become blanketed in a thick cover of gray, rapidly moving clouds. Occasionally a quick burst of cold wind blew by, chopping the waves of the ocean and whipping Sam and Tobias's hair back, but it soon went unnoticed.

"Well, what now?" Sam wondered, watching the ocean's waves rise and fall with the wind. "We already had a battle and bought all the stuff we need to get before we leave. Is there anything else we need to do?"

"Well, of course we need to wait for Alana," Tobias stated matter-of-factly, "but there's nothing else important we need to do here, I think."

"But Alana might be out of it for another few days! What do we do for that long?"

"Just wait, I guess." A few seconds passed as they both stood silently outside the Poke Mart, contemplating where to go next. "Maybe we should go ahead and check on Alana now," Tobias suggested. "And then maybe we can get a room to stay the night at the Pokemon Center."

Sam sighed, mostly out of boredom. She had agreed to come to Sinnoh so quickly because she expected adventure, and so far that idea had been tossed away. Nevertheless, she agreed to his suggestion, and they started in the direction of the Pokemon Center.

The Pokemon Center was relatively empty, akin to its condition earlier when they were there. Sam, along with their pokemon, opted to wait in the lobby, and she sat down on a red couch leaning against the wall, focusing her attention on a television set attached to the wall on the other side of the lobby. Lea jumped into her lap and fixed his own eyes to the same position, while Synth and Totodile fell onto the floor, the latter leaning against Synth's side, and the former mindlessly gluing his eyes to the television with everyone else. The TV everyone was so fascinated in was tuned to a news station, which was talking about the weather.

Tobias paid no attention to the program, and approached the front counter where the Nurse Joy was occupied with only watching the same television in the empty Pokemon Center. She pulled herself away from it, however, to greet Tobias.

"Hi, I'm Tobias," he began. "I dropped off my Plusle here a few hours ago, and I was wondering if I could just check up on her?"

"Oh, I remember you from earlier," she said cheerfully. "Let me just make sure, though…"

She reached into a drawer on her side of the counter and took out a sheet of paper, scanning the words printed on it. The paper listed a short amount of names of different people who had all left their pokemon in the care of the Pokemon Center. She found his name toward the bottom of the sheet.

"Tobias… Plusle." She set the paper back into the drawer "Good. Come with me," she instructed with a soft, seemingly permanent smile on her face.

Tobias followed her into the back room of the Pokemon Center, lined with small, white stretchers, only a few of which were occupied by unconscious pokemon. She led him to the one which Alana was supposed to be occupying, but, strangely, the Plusle was gone; only its pokeball remained resting on the white sheets.

"What happened to her?" he asked, suspecting she was likely inside the pokeball. He asked anyway, though, to be sure.

"We put her back in her pokeball," Joy said, confirming his thoughts. "She actually woke up a few hours ago, and I thought it would be best if she was-"

"She _what?_" he blurted, stunned, the only reply he could immediately come up with. "I thought it was supposed to be another few days before that happened!"

"The information we had from the Nurse Joy on the ship you came from pointed to that," she calmly began. "According to it, we estimated that it would be a few days before she would wake… but, here we are. We may have simply incorrectly estimated; otherwise, I'm not sure how it happened."

"Hunh…" he said simply, glancing at the ball with a renewed interest. There was a pause in the conversation, and Tobias quietly wondered about the mysterious Plusle.

"Anyway, we gave her some food a little bit ago, and put her back into the Heal Ball. Since then we've been waiting for you to come back to pick her up.

"Oh, thanks." He took the ball from the stretcher and looked at it thoughtfully for a moment.

"Now, I'd only advise you to be _very _careful if you use that Plusle in battle," she continued. "Even if she did wake up early, she still was unconscious for about a day. Try not to put her into any stressful or hazardous situation that might cause this to happen again."

"Don't worry, I'll be careful with her," he assured her. "Thanks for looking after her for me."

"Oh, it wasn't any problem," she modestly replied, "but you're welcome."

She escorted Tobias outside of the back room and into the lobby, with Alana's pokeball placed in his palm. He went over to the chair where Sam was waiting, and she immediately noticed the Plusle's pokeball in his hand.

"Well, that was quick," she said, eyeing the ball quizzically. "Did you already get Alana back? I thought she was supposed to be unconscious for the next few days."

"Nurse Joy said that they don't know why, but she woke up early," Tobias briefly explained. "I think they might have just estimated the time wrong, or something."

"Really?" she simply replied. "Weird… are you going to let her out?"

"Eh… in a little while. Once we get some fresh air," he reasoned.

"If you think you should." She took Lea from her lap and placed him on the floor, and stood up, balancing on the tips of her toes for a brief second to stretch her legs. "So, what do we do now?"

"What do you mean?" he replied.

"We had planned to stay here a few days to wait for Alana to get better," she began. "Since she's already awake, though, should we still stay for the night, or should we just leave now?"

Tobias opened his mouth to respond, but he had no answer to give.

"I didn't think about that," he eventually said, with a contemplative countenance. He thought for a few moments, before continuing. "Um… what time is it now?"

"It's about…" Sam glanced at a clock hanging on the wall, "four thirty."

He gave a pensive look for a moment, as he considered their next move. "Well, we've already bought everything we need… I don't see why we shouldn't just leave now. Route 218 isn't long; it'll probably only take about a day and a half to get from here to the next city. Plus, a head start _would_ do us some good."

"Sounds fine to me," she confirmed. She looked down to the pokemon of their group. "You guys ready?"

"I've been waiting since we got on the boat here," Lea stated eagerly. "Of course I am."

"Sure," Synth replied. "Why not?"

"Eh," was Totodile's laconic response.

"I'll assume all of that meant yes," Sam concluded. All of their pokemon stood up, and within seconds they had walked out of the Pokemon Center and back into the city.

The wind had picked up speed once again since they entered the Pokemon Center. As they walked, it whipped their hair back and stung their eyes more sharply than it had earlier. Above, the gray blanket of clouds sailed more rapidly across the sky, threatening to pour rain down upon the city below.

Tobias stared cautiously at the foreboding gray sea above his head, and contemplated again his choice.

"Actually, if it's going to rain tonight…" he began, slight nervousness in his voice.

"There was a weather report on the news in the Pokemon Center," Sam interrupted. "They said that it's supposed to be cloudy for the next few days, but most of the rain will miss us."

"Oh, good," he said, relieved. "It'd suck if all we had was rain for the first day here." Sam nodded in agreement.

They continued their silent walk through the city, and within minutes they were through the gate and out into Route 218.

Route 218 was much less of an actual route, and more of a plain, empty field of moderately tall grass. The field was surrounded at its edges by a wall of trees that led into a small section of woods, and the ocean could be heard lapping its waves against the shore nearby. The intense wind that blew bent the grass to the side with each passing gust, turning the field into its own ocean of green, lilting waves that rose and lowered with the wind as the tide does.

The group walked in silence along the Route; although they were excited to finally leave on their adventure, there was little to actually discuss, and found themselves staring blankly in front of them for much of the time.

"So…" Sam trailed, trying to find some way to break the silence.

"…So…" Tobias echoed, unsure of anything to talk about.

"…Oh, weren't you going to let Alana out of her ball now?" Sam eventually questioned, glancing at the pink pokeball still gripped in Tobias' palm. They stopped walking, and Tobias looked at the ball as well, and shrugged.

"Might as well," he said passively. He anxiously stared at it himself for a moment, transfixed on his thoughts on what his new pokemon would be like finally awake, and pressed the button in the center of the ball. It snapped open on its hinges, loosing a blue light onto the ground that materialized into the Plusle it contained.

Alana appeared with her head lilting, lying exhausted on the ground on her stomach. She yawned wearily, and pushed herself up off the soft grass, stretching all four limbs equally.

"Augh, how long has it been since I moved," she lamented, in a strained, weary voice. She yawned once again, and rubbed her eyes. "I wonder what happened to Jo-"

She froze, as she looked out the landscape in front of her. Nothing but a small field of short grass, with some trees farther in the distance. She heard the sound of waves lapping over other waves and crashing into land, and felt the severity of the strong wind blowing crazily.

"Wh-where am I?" she stammered, as she nervously tried to ascertain her whereabouts. "What happened back in-"

She couldn't help but freeze once again, as she turned around to meet a small group of both humans and pokemon, boring their eyes creepily into her.

"Gyah! Wh-who are you people!" she cried, now with a voice tinged with anxiety. She stepped backwards from them.

Tobias stepped in front of the rest and knelt down to meet the Plusle closer to eye-level. "Hi, I'm Tobias," he stated, unknowingly answering its question. He reached out to pet her head. "I'm your trainer." Upon those words her eyes widened, and she shot him a disgusted look.

"What? Are you insane?" she cried with an aversive temper, and swatted away his arm as if it repulsed her. "Joseph's my trainer! What happened to him?" She began walking in a small circle, swiveling her head about and searching the small range in a hopeful attempt to ascertain her whereabouts. She quickly realized that it was impossible to tell at the moment.

"You, the devil monkey," she said, pointing her hand at Lea. "What region are we in?"

"Uh, Sinnoh," he said.

"Good, at least I'm still in the same region," she said, with a hint of relief in her words. She turned around, and stopped again, almost having walked into Tobias's foot.

"It's okay, I'm not gonna hurt you…" he murmured, and motioned Alana to come closer, offering his hand once more.

"Ew, get away from me, you freak!" She shrilled, and oppositely backed away. "Where is he? "I know Joseph's here somewhere." She ran out of the small circle that their group had made, and called out 'Joseph?' feverishly to the sky, hoping in vain for some reply back.

While she was doing so, Synth decided that he should be the first one to formally approach the new addition, seeing as he was Tobias's only other pokemon. He brushed past Tobias and stopped behind her, with his mouth curled into a subtle smile as he began.

"Hi," he greeted the Plusle optimistically. She paid no attention and did not reply back, and after a few seconds his smile began to diminish. "Uh, hi," he repeated, a bit louder. She heard him this time, and turned around to see what was speaking to her. She looked the Grotle up and down, and rolled her maroon eyes in a circle.

"Hi," she replied, much less mirthfully than the one in front of her, and brushed by him, calling out the same name again.

"My name's Synth," he continued, after approaching her again. "I'm-"

"Yeah, good for you, whatever," she said hurriedly. "Can't you see I'm looking for someone?"

"Uh, yeah…who is this Joseph you keep calling to?" he inquired, while watching her with a perplexed look.

"I already said that he's my trainer," she replied, her voice becoming increasingly agitated. "Now leave me alone!"

"Your _trainer_?" he repeated, confused at her assertion. "…I don't really know who he is, but he can't be your trainer. Tobias is."

He succeeded in getting her attention.

"What are you talking about? I know who my own trainer is," she said blatantly, as if it was obvious.

"What I mean is, we found you unconscious, he captured you, and you became his pokemon."

"Unconscious?" she restated, seeming to mull the word over in her head. "I don't feel like I've been unconscious. Just… asleep for a little while." She paused for a moment. "And anyway, I couldn't have been captured by him. I already have a trainer and a pokeball, and my signature already was imprinted into that ball."

"Well, we were able to. Maybe your trainer released you?"

"Joseph would never do such a heinous thing," she said, as if offended. "But it doesn't matter. The point is, I know who my trainer is, and that _idiot_ you call Tobias is not him."

"Don't call him an idiot!" he snapped back, sounding slightly flustered. "He's my trainer, too."

"Well, I don't like him," she insisted, folding her arms across her chest, "he's annoying."

"He's spoken all of two sentences to you."

"And if that's enough to convince me, then why should I have better expectations of the rest of you?" She swiveled around, and began walking in the other direction.

Synth did his best to ignore her last statement, as much as it stung, and walked closer to her.

"Now that I think about it, maybe Joseph could be out there…" Alana said quietly to herself, looking out in the direction of Canalave City. "What city is that, anyway?"

"I'm sure it won't be that bad with us," Synth said, with waning enthusiasm. "I mean, we won't try to replace your old trainer, but-"

"'Old' trainer?" she recanted back, with a confused demeanor. "What do you mean by that? Did you think I was actually going to stay here with you people?"

"That's… usually what a person's pokemon is supposed to do," he replied. He was slightly offended, but tried not to show it.

"Look, it was nice meeting you and all, but I'm not going to abandon Joseph," she reasoned. "He is my _actual_ trainer, and must be wondering where I am too. So, I'm going to go to that city over there, and see if he might be hiding there somewhere."

"What?" he replied in disbelief. "You can't do that!"

"Why not? What's keeping me here?"

"The fact that Tobias is your trainer now," he pronounced distinctly.

"Argh, I keep telling you, he's not my trainer!" she declared, with a voice beginning to increase in tenacity. "You know what, this is getting us nowhere, so I have a better idea. Since I can't convince you to let me leave, why don't I just destroy that Heal Ball over there that's forcing me to stay?"

"You're crazy! Y-you wouldn't!"

"Funny, because I think I'm going to." She turned around and began walking towards Tobias.

"Wait!" he urgently cried. He quickly ran into Alana's path, and stood directly in her way. She stopped in front of him, and again rolled her eyes over.

"Could you _please_ step aside?" she sneered, with a beleaguered look upon her face.

"No, I won't," he said firmly. "We went through all this trouble to make sure you were okay, and you can't repay us like this!"

"Rrgh… dang it, move already!" she shrilled.

"No," he persisted. The anger that slowly began to creep into Alana's expression, however, unnerved him a bit.

She sustained the chance for a few more seconds, and after he had been still for long enough, she gritted her teeth together and glared into his eyes, looking more spiteful than he thought a Plusle could. Bright yellow sparks began to fall in quick bursts from her cheeks.

"If you're going to be this stubborn about it, then fine!" Alana screamed, and from her mouth, a bright, yellow light began to emit. Faster than he could tell, a star-shaped ray launched forward like a cannonball, and pierced Synth's eye. He reeled back in pain from the Swift attack, squinting the damaged eye nearly shut. He fell to the ground wincing, and scratched at the eye with one of his feet.

"Synth!" Tobias called in a worried bout, accompanied by the near-simultaneous gasps of Sam, Totodile, and Lea behind him. He ran toward his pokemon, with Alana's pokeball clenched tightly in his palm. He knelt down next to the Grotle, getting a closer look at his face. "You okay?"

"I'll be fine," he grunted, slowly prying his eyelid open. His eye was tinged a deep red, and he fought the powerful urge to shut it again and scratch at it. Tobias inspected his face quickly, to be sure there were no further injuries; confirmed it, and then turned around again. Alana, although previously was going to run for him, was standing behind him, longingly eyeing the hand that held her pokeball.

"What's the matter with you, Alana?" he sternly chided the Plusle, an angered scowl forming in his expression. "Why would you attack him like that?"

"I would explain, but you don't understand anything I say," she mumbled, dodging his gaze momentarily. Louder, "Whatever, why don't I just get to the point?"

Sparks flew from each of her red cheeks, as she loosed a small bolt of electricity from her body. The thin, jagged bolt quickly collided with Tobias, and he yelped from the Thundershock. Alana's pokeball accidentally fell from his hand and onto the ground.

"What the hell are you doing?" he yelled furiously at the small-statured pokemon. She nonchalantly fired another Thundershock at Tobias, and he toppled backwards onto his back.

"Ah! Tobias!" Sam nearly shrieked, as she watched the Plusle's attack. She moved her foot as if to run next to him, but before she could, Totodile jumped ahead in her place. "Totodile, what are you doing?" she snapped, but nervously.

"Perfect," Alana said with a smirk, as she picked the ball up in her small hands. "That was easier than I thought it would be."

"Was it, now?" replied an irritated voice behind her. She whipped her head back, and locked eyes with Totodile, standing with his own small arms crossed across his chest, his eyes slanted into a leer.

"Ugh, what now?" she groaned. "We both know that you're weak to electricity, so don't even bother trying anything stupid."

"You don't get to choose who you have as you have as your trainer." He spoke scornfully, jabbing his finger into her flesh. "I don't care who this Joseph is, but you're not going back to him. Tobias captured you, so Tobias is your trainer now! So put the ball down and quit this!"

She stared at him incredulously for a moment, then slowly allowed a smirk to cover her face. Not as though she was about to try something, but more like she was desperately trying to suppress laughter.

"Okay, look, you little mutant fish," she chuckled. "You can preach your idiosyncrasies to someone who honestly cares, but right now, I have something important to do."

Totodile could only leer at her for a moment, before his nostrils suddenly flared in newfound animosity. He lunged forward, jaws wide and prepared ready to snap on her. At the last second, though, Alana stepped backward and shoved her hands in front of her.

Unfortunately, Totodile realized his mistake too late, and automatically clamped his mouth onto the pokeball she had placed in her hands. The ball shattered like glass, in his mouth, and Alana fell backwards laughing.

"Ahahaha! Man, you're all too easy!" she chortled, and slowly made her way up. "Now that you've done what I wanted for me, I guess I'll leave then. Bye!"

She flipped around and ran from Totodile, leaving him speechlessly appalled, as the chunks of metal from the pokeball fell like broken teeth from his mouth.

She made just a short distance from him, cackling in glee, before she suddenly smacked into something else and stumbled backwards, nearly falling over. She looked up at what she had bumped into; sure enough, Lea was standing exasperated in her path.

"Not gonna work," he said coolly.

"Oh, for the love of _God_! There's more of you?" she screamed in frustration. "Screw it, I'm not wasting any more time."

She released a thin, jagged bolt of electricity at him, but he tilted his head to the side and dodged the Thunder Wave. In reaction, he punched her hard in the stomach, and she reeled backwards in shock. From there, he used Ember, launching a barrage of small, glowing orange fireballs, but she nimbly evaded the attack at a blindingly fast pace, the Quick Attack allowing her to speed safely out of the way.

She pressed forward with her Quick Attack, and sped as forcefully as she could into Lea's stomach. He crumpled down upon the forceful impact, and flew a short distance backwards. Alana did not stop to celebrate, and hastened ahead, away from the hecticness of their group.

The next second, however, she was stopped once more as, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed something quickly barreling toward her. She looked, and saw the slew of bladelike leaves flying toward her unstoppably. She was not fast enough to react to them, and they hit her perfectly, cutting small gashes into her pale yellow fur and skin. She stopped and cried in pain, and turned with a scornful glare to Synth, who had recovered from her attack and was standing again. Tobias was back up as well; however, he was kneeling on the ground in front of his backpack, searching restlessly for something inside it. She fired a Thunder Wave at Synth, but he rolled to the side of the small wave of electricity, barely dodging it, and shot off another Razor Leaf, which hit accurately, cutting deeper gashes into her skin.

She was about to try a Swift attack again, but she was cut off by a sharp blow on her back, and she flew forward, sliding on her stomach as she landed. Behind her, a gigantic fireball bounced onto the ground after slamming into its target. The flames dissipated into a thin smoke, revealing Lea having used a Flame Wheel attack.

"What is with you people!" Alana screamed, as she started pushing herself up. Lea stomped his foot into her back, and she crumpled back down again, coughing all the while. "Why can't you let me go in peace!"

By this point, Sam had run quickly to Tobias's side. She couldn't stop looking, petrified at the chaos in front of her.

"Please tell me you're doing something helpful," she insisted urgently, keeping from biting the edges of her nails as the scene continued.

"One second," Tobias said. His fingers finally wrapped around what he had been looking for, and he pulled his hand out of his backpack with a new pokeball in his palm. "Got it," he said, almost victoriously. "Be right back."

Tobias ran toward Alana with the pokeball cinched tightly in his palm. He stopped once he was in front of her, and, with a victorious smirk, dropped the pokeball onto her head. Alana grunted in frustration as the ball burst open, and her body was converted into a red light, being absorbed into the red and white sphere. It snapped shut, and fell onto the ground with a soft thud. Lea and Synth stepped back from the ball as they, along with Tobias, Sam, who had run after Tobias, and Totodile, anxiously watched with bated breath as it rocked and shook repeatedly. After a few tense seconds, the ball ceased its shaking and finally sat still.

The breath was simultaneously released from everybody in relief, as Tobias bent over and plucked the ball from the ground.

"Glad that's finally over," Tobias said with an exhausted sigh, looking at Alana's new pokeball with both disdain and intrigue.

"That was just crazy," Sam replied, with equal exhaustion. "I mean, I would've expected her to be nervous from waking up in a new place with new people, but... I just don't know what all that was for.

They waited another few moments before continuing, allowing everything and everyone to calm down. Tobias wiped the sweat from his forehead. "Well, we might as well keep going now," he insisted. "We'll worry about all this again later."

"Yeah… sure," Sam agreed. Tobias called Synth over to him, and took a Potion from his backpack. After he figured out how to open and use it, he sprayed the medicine near his eye, careful not to spray it into it, and shoved it back into his bag, which he zipped closed and slung onto his shoulder.

With the gray clouds still looming ominously above them, and with the wind beginning to grow more furious, they continued walking down Route 218.

* * *

**Tired of battling by now? I don't blame you.**

**Anyway, about the updates... I had no intention of making you wait so long for this. For this chapter in particular, I had to rewrite Part 1 twice and Part 2 three times, because every time I read over them, I realized they were horrible.**

**But, my laptop has been fixed recently, and I can use it to write chapters again. So, here's my promise: because I've made you wait so long in the recent months, I will have a new chapter up within the next two weeks.**

**Yes, two weeks. Unless something circumstantial happens, I promise to have Chapter 17 up in that time.**

**Aside from that, I hope you've liked these extra-long chapters. Hopefully they were good enough after so much revision.**

**-Finalsmasher13**

**(PS: I know it probably seems that having Alana wake up quickly was just a cheap method of moving the plot along. But you'll see the point eventually...)**


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